You Got a Problem With That?
by i.amazonian
Summary: The ideal guy marries the ideal girl. You can't go wrong with that, right? Right. That is... if total chaos was what you wanted in the first place.
1. Ha! Stereotype my Foot

//Don't worry about the short length of this chapter. This is just a small note, or a a teaser, if you may.//

--

Once upon a time, there were two people.

One had XX chromosomes, the other had XY. (Or in short, there was a boy and a girl.) They met, then fell in love, then had a big problem, then broke up, then ignored each other for a long time.

They met again. The boy pleaded, the girl resisted, the boy was persistent, he explained. The boy almost left, the girl ran and shouted his name at the airport. They apologized, they forgave. They kissed, the whole airport applauded. After a while, they got married. A similar conflict arose, the boy proved his love, the girl was proud. They had children and their love story lived on for generations.

Now you didn't think it was that stereotypical, did you?

Come on. Everything that involved these two people had to be anything but stereotypical. Sure they met, and sure, they got married.

_So… that's rather common, isn't it?_

Believe me when I tell you this: Put these 2 people in a room together and I promise you. You'd think the eye of the storm was a peaceful sanctuary.

--

/ /Sorry for the short introduction. So, interested? Tell me. I'd love that. :P/ /

//Guys, don't worry. The chapters in the story isn't nearly as short as this. This is only some kind of introduction. Hope you read more!//


	2. See? Ideal People!

**Syaoran Li had it all. **

He's handsome.

Damn, he's so good-looking, some people thought he was gay. (Well you couldn't blame them. Syaoran actually had suitors! Male. Suitors.)

But the wonderful thing about that is, simply put, he wasn't.

He's athletic.

He's into soccer and a bit of basketball, but there's almost no one that could deny: Martial Arts was his passion. He was trained since he could hold his head up, and he constantly trains in his free time. (Which was becoming less and less now, considering the busy schedule and all…) Ah. Reasons why his body is gorgeous. No need to drool, just stating the facts.

He's extremely charming. And by extremely, I mean… Extremely. Period.

He's rich.

He's the heir to the Li clan (obviously), and he was already Executive Vice President for Marketing in a company that's eventually going to be his. And he's just 20 years old!

He knows how to have fun.

He believes that all work is not right, and neither is all play. He knows how to balance it. His idea of "fun" is much like a little boy's view of it: Hanging out with friends, playing sports, eating, relaxing. You know, nice, innocent fun. He knows you could have fun even if there are no excessive alcohol, drugs and prostitutes involved.

Most importantly, he has morals.

He knew right from wrong, and he did whatever in his power to make sure he did what was right. He knew how to respect superiors, peers and employees alike, and everybody was his friend. Well, of course, jealous employees and opportunistic "friends" aside. He's a bit on the tough side, but he knows when to be sensitive, and when to be a gentleman. Although he tends to be aggressive most of the time, that's just because he's a little competitive. If you were the next leader of a clan so important to the people, you're going to have to be trained to fight for what you thinks is right. And that's exactly what his parents did. Nothing _too _wrong with that.

See? Ideal guy.

--

**Sakura Kinomoto did it all.**

She's beautiful.

She was usually the cause of stupid fights in the school. Though she repeatedly asked them nicely to stop it, her barbaric schoolmates just can't stop. She never understood why: She never entertained any attempts to court her.

She's hyperactive.

Being a cheerleader in her high school days, it was just fitting. She's really fit and lively. She also loves soccer and swimming, and also a bit of volleyball. She liked to try out new sports, and she excelled in almost all of them. But most of all, she was a legendary runner. If Michael Jordan owned the court, she owned the track. Not even older guys could run faster than her. So much for guys chasing after girls.

She's extremely cheerful.

Her smile could brighten up anyone's day, her laughter is contagious. It just is.

She's successful.

She started out small, but she started young. She and her brother often took part time jobs to make ends meet. They started with a small cozy café (since they both know how to cook), and now, the siblings' business is Asia's Starbucks. With her brother and her as CEO's, they led the way for the business to enlarge and expand. Aside from that, the Kinomoto brother-sister tandem now owns a group of companies that revolves mainly around hotels and resorts. As if that wasn't enough, Sakura has just started her own line of designer clothes while Touya (her brother) plans to enter the advertising business. All under the Kinomoto name. By the way, Sakura's just 19.

She's always cheerful.

She knows that a smile is always the first step to success or to whatever you may want to achieve.

And of course, she's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.

She's really friendly, and rarely snaps at people (besides Touya, but that's accepted. They're siblings, after all.). She maintains morals that are now diminishing from the world, and she possesses godly characteristics that girls nowadays tend to neglect. She's always down to earth, and she never forgets where she came from. She has very strong principles, and she's not afraid to show them and stand up for what is right. She's a kind, gentle girl who always thinks of others. However, the gentleness sometimes disappears when the sexism toward the males is evident. She is a feminist, and by feminist I mean, she wants to lift the world's views on women so that both sexes could be equal. She hates being treated soft and weak just because she's a girl, and she could go all out trying to prove otherwise.

See? Ideal girl.

--

_So... everything seems pretty normal..._

Of course. You have heard of the calm before the storm, right? In their case, it was a 19-year calm period.


	3. Damn you, Meiling!

_Nervous._

"Ms. Kinomoto! Look here!"

"Here! How about a few poses?"

"Ms. Kinomoto, how is the company?"

"How's your lovelife?"

"Is it active? Do you have a boyfriend? Is he married?"

_Now that was funny._

"Ms. Kinomoto cannot answer your questions right now. However, if your questions are those concerning the Kinomoto Group of Companies, we have a whole staff of call center agents that can help you. Our website is available 24/7, and you could direct complaints and concerns to our Services Department. Otherwise…"

Her amethyst eyes blackened. Her smile disappeared and she growled silently,

"…back off."

One of the paparazzi placed his hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"Hey sweetheart, we just wanted a few shots from Miss Kinomoto. Now, seeing as you want some of the action…"

"I suggest you don't touch me, Sir."

Grabbing his hand, she _squeezed _it with unlabored pressure and grinned.

"We wouldn't want a broken wrist today, would we?"

Her cheerful smile went back on her face as the man jerked his hand away. She waved goodbye to them (with choruses of "I thought she was angry?" raging through the media crowd) and went inside the limousine, where Sakura was waiting.

"Thanks, Tomoyo. I just couldn't find the heart to brush them all away like that…"

"No problem. I've been trained my whole life. My mother's kind of…uhm… media-worthy. You could never be too aggressive with the media. They are the most sinister of all people, but they are much denser than you are, Sakura."

"Yeah…Wha? Hey!"

Tomoyo smiled. Her friend never accepted the fact that she _was_ dense, _is_ dense, and probably _will always be _dense.

"What I'm saying is, if you don't tell it straight, they'd never get it right. Like perhaps, wanting to be left alone?"

"I suppose so…"

Both sat in silence while watching the "in-ride movie", as Tomoyo always called it. Sakura looked outside and sighed.

"Errrr… Tomoyo? Why the limousine?"

"Why _not_ the limousine?"

"Well… nothing's wrong with it… it's just that…"

Tomoyo took a sip from her glass.

"Just that what?"

"I'd prefer convertibles… Not that I don't like limousines, but it's just that with convertibles, you get to have that free feeling, you know? The wind in your hair and all that jive…"

"Well, with convertibles, you'll also have cameras in your face and media people up your ass."

"Tomoyo!"

"Well it's true! And besides, we're going to an official event. One of your companies is the main sponsor. Which means, you're the star. And stars always ride in limousines."

"Well, not _the_ star exactly… but I guess so…"

"And with that small space, we'd wrinkle our gowns and the winds would most definitely ruin your… _thousand dollar…_"

"Oh shut up. They made me go there!"

"…hair-do." Tomoyo couldn't suppress her giggles anymore.

"Just shut up, why don't ya?"

"And if I don't?"

"I'll…errr… I'll throw you out!"

"Now now… this is my car, remember? You didn't want to take yours. Ergo, you couldn't throw me out."

"Stupid ergo."

Tomoyo laughed at her friend's childishness. Sure, she might be a Chief Executive Officer. Sure, she might be one of the youngest billionaires in history. Sure, she might be one of Japan's most prominent business figures. But she still was Sakura.

"We could have at least used my Hummer." Sakura muttered.

"Yeap. And we could've at least started World War 3."

"Huh?"

"You know your brother would freak out!"

"Why should he?"

"I don't know… because you make him pay for your gas bills?"

"I left that bill on his tab by accident! Even so, it's not like he's going to have to withdraw money from the bank! He could afford all my gas bills any day."

"Well, sure he could afford it. But I'm more than sure that you could too. And I think that's what bugs him. You know, the fact that you're passing your luxury bills to him…"

"I told you, it was accidental."

"Sure…"

"Oh shut up."

"Sure."

"Hmpf. You. " Sakura grinned. If there was anything she knew, it was that Tomoyo hated to be embarrassed just as much as she does.

"I'm sure Onii-chan understands me. After all, I did help him that time in France…"

"What time in France?"

"You know… When some stranger trespassed into his room and was caught sleeping there... Imagine the shock!"

Tomoyo gasped.

"You know that wasn't on purpose! I never thought I was entering his hotel room!"

"Yeah. And the door to his suite just magically opened for you?"

"It did! And I was so sleepy then, I never thought I pressed the 10th floor button! I thought I was going to the 11th!"

"Ha! Imagine the look on his face when he entered and saw you sleeping… with your pajamas on and everything! Good thing you didn't bring your _bedtime _teddy bear with you… What was his name? Uhm… Eriol something…"

"Well…"

"Oh my gosh, you did. You did!" Sakura howled with laughter.

"Well I couldn't go anywhere without that stuffed animal!"

"You carry it around in your purse?" Tomoyo's eyes dimmed as Sakura's laughter increased.

"It's not funny! And it's not like as if Touya's a total stranger! Unlike some people… Showering in other people's bathrooms… Pretty unsophisticated, isn't it?"

"I knew you were gonna throw that in my face!"

"Imagine that poor family, just trying to get away from life's daily stress. And boom! They had you as a welcoming party!"

"Come on! I wasn't naked, the family understood, and I had my shower! There wasn't any problem…"

"Yeah. Until you realized that you left your "I heart bunnies" t-shirt and had to sneak back in to get it!"

Roles are now reversed as Sakura's eyes widened.

"I happen to love that shirt. And dude, I was filthy! I couldn't go inside the hotel up to my room covered in gunk!"

"Why were you covered in gunk anyway?"

"I was hiding in a…uhm…"

Tomoyo grinned.

"A what? Sorry, I couldn't hear you…"

"A trash bin, okay? I was hiding in a trash bin because I saw Onii-chan talking to a girl! That didn't happen everyday and I wanted to take a picture of it without being seen! The only way was the trash bin!"

"The great Sakura Kinomoto, hiding in a trash bin? That's gotta be something funny."

"Well at least I didn't try to ride the airport's luggage conveyor!"

"How did you know that?"

"So it's true? I never knew Yamazaki could tell the truth for once."

"Why that little twerp! Chiharu better hide him well!"

"Why? Practically the whole high school saw your picture!"

"I have a picture?"

"Now, Tomoyo. You didn't think you were the only one who knew how to use a camera, did you?"

Sakura laughed at her friend's flushed face.

"Well I'm sorry for wanting to try it. What could I do? It looked like fun! I'm sure I speak for every child and every child-at-heart when I say that."

"So what are you saying? I'm old?"

"I never said that. But since you think so, I wouldn't disagree now, would I?

"Excuse me, Miss Daidouji, but just in case you haven't noticed, you're _older_ than me."

"Well, I'm young-at-heart."

"You're just childish."

"Like you aren't."

"I am not!" Sakura stuck her tongue out at her.

"Oh yeah, Miss Kinomoto. Really mature."

"Whatever."

"Ha."

" 'Ha' what?"

"Nothing."

"Miss Kinomoto, Miss Daidouji, we have arrived."

"Thanks Mike. We'll call when we're done. Until then, you're free to go anywhere."

"Alright. Thank you, Miss Daidouji. Call me if you need anything."

"Will do. And Mike, call me Tomoyo. I don't like Miss Daidouji, it makes me feel old."

Tomoyo smiled.

"I understand, Tomoyo."

With a last smile, Tomoyo and Sakura prepared to go out. Knowing their popularity, it's practically like going into a cage of hungry hyenas.

"You ready, Sakura?"

"You bet, Tomoyo."

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

"Deep breath."

"Deep breath."

"Here we go."

* * *

_Smug._

Syaoran hates these kinds of events. They're just pathetic excuses for people to brag about what they have accomplished. Unless you're one of those proud, bratty people, you wouldn't enjoy these.

"Syaoran! You know the word 'smile'? You could actually do that."

"Buzz off, Eriol. Just because you can't remove that grin from your face doesn't mean everybody can't. What did you do to that, anyway? Superglue it to your face?

"Ha. Funny. Too bad nobody's laughing."

"Can't we get away from here? Let's go bowling instead!"

"Tell you what. You plaster on a smile and we go bowling later."

"And…?"

"We stay there until 4 in the morning."

"Deal."

"Pffft. Immature weirdo."

"Who are you calling a weirdo, Mr. I-thought-the-bowling-ball-was-light? "

"Well, I did. And everybody discovers stuff, I just discovered that a bit later than usual."

"You're just slow."

"No I'm not. You are."

"How am I slow?"

"Oh come on. You thought turtles couldn't swim!"

"That was back in grade school. How can you not get over that?"

"Because I knew that ever since I knew what a turtle is. You, on the other hand, were afraid to place the turtle in the water for fear that it would drown." Eriol chuckled.

"Shut up."

"Anyway, come. Let's go meet the guests."

"Why?"

"Because that's the ethical thing to do."

"Stupid ethical."

Eriol couldn't help but grin at his best friend. Sure, they have differences and sure, they weren't really what you expected to be best friends. But they were, and sometimes they couldn't help but think how they can stand each other. Their other friends can't seem to stand them when they put their heads together and do what boys do: mischief.

"Come on! Look, there's Meiling. I'll come get her."

Syaoran's lips curved into a smile. Meiling was his cousin, but more importantly, she was one of them. They were the 3 Musketeers, if you will. It was like she was one of the guys. She had as much mischief in her blood as Syaoran and Eriol, sometimes even combined.

"Meiling! How come you're so late?"

"Syaoran! How come you don't know that girls take a longer time getting ready?"

"You're a girl?" Meiling narrowed her eyes at her blue-eyed friend.

"Hiiragizawa. Surprised?"

"Quite a bit actually. Hard to believe."

"Yeah. Especially after I beat you in fencing the other day."

"What? You did not! I… I let you win, obviously. I wouldn't hurt a girl—"

"And now you admit I'm a girl. Come on, _boys_, and let's eat. I'm starving!"

The boys followed suit, with Eriol muttering,

"Damn you, Meiling."

* * *

/ / So, what do you guys think? Should I continue? What I have in mind is well, interesting. :)). / /


	4. I have no freaking idea

_Freaked-out._

"…_he's all I want, just for me. Underneath my Christmas tree._

_I'll be waiting here… Santa that's my only wish this year…"_

"Who's 'he'?"

Tomoyo groaned at her friend's sudden appearance. She was a bit insecure about her singing, and that meant one thing: no audiences.

"One of these days, _Kinomoto_, you'd wish you weren't that sneaky."

"You didn't answer my question. Who's 'he'?"

"I don't know. Ask Britney Spears."

"Why on earth will I ask her? Tomoyo my friend… You're losing it." Sakura giggled.

"You're a dimbulb. She sang that song, so ask her who she was referring to. Sakura my friend, you're… nah. You already lost it all a few years back—Ouch!"

"That's what I call the…err… Flying pillow!"

Amidst Sakura's laughter, the poor girl didn't notice Tomoyo's eyes turning a couple shades darker. She picked up a pillow, stood up and muttered to herself.

"Well, in the spirit of competition…"

"Ooof! Tomoyo!"

* * *

_Weirded-out._

"Look. We've been through this! I'm just not that into girls and dating right now!"

"You're into… guys?"

"Shut up, Eriol. Like as if you're dating someone."

"Ah. But you're forgetting, I'm already engaged."

"Yeah. To a person you've never seen in your life."

"Well. Since I don't really want to date and stuff, might as well go with the arrangement, right?"

Eriol chuckled. It came as quite a shock to him when his parents told him about the betrothal. But he came to realize that if he wasn't planning on looking for that special someone, why not? It'd be as if they were housemates, with different rooms and all. Just like having a friend as a boardmate.

"Whatever."

"But seriously! Syaoran Li, you're into dating men?"

Syaoran wanted to scream in frustration. What was supposed to be a weird conversation about whether Mariah Carey looked like the "housewife" type or not turned into Eriol poking his nose into Syaoran's… _business._ In other terms, his being "single".

"Actually Eriol…"

Eriols eyes widened.

"Haven't you realized yet? Why do you think I'm still your best friend after all these years?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Eriol, I think you're hot."

"What? Syaoran, what the heck are you saying?"

"Eriol, I'm so gay for you."

"HUH?"

"Yes… Now come on, lover…"

Syaoran closed his eyes and cornered Eriol.

"..pucker up."

"Syaoran! Snap out of it! You're scaring me!"

"Don't be scared… I could be gentle…"

Eriol, in all fear and worry, made a run for it.

As Eriol exited the room, Syaoran's puckered lips turned into a grin.

"And that's what you get for bothering me!"

* * *

_Worried._

"Hello, Miss Kinomoto?"

"Speaking. Who's this?"

"It's is Yamazaki speaking, Maam."

"Oh hey! What's with the "Maam"? We're friends right? Call me Sakura!" Sakura giggled through the phone.

"Okay, Sakura. You're brother wanted me to tell you that he really needs to talk to you right away. He said it's urgent."

"Sure. Could you please tell him I'll be down in 10 minutes? Tell him I'll meet him in the lobby."

"Sure thing Sakura."

"Okay. Thanks!"

* * *

"What's up, Onii-chan?"

"Sakura. We have a meeting with LE in an hour, I trust it that you remember? It's about the merger."

"Of course. Is that why you called me here?"

"Uhm… Sort of. Come on, kaijuu. We'll talk about it over lunch. It's on me."

"I am not a kaijuu, Onii-chan. Please remember that, or I may have to upload that video again…"

"Hmpf. You sly little freak."

"Thanks, you too."

Sakura and Touya arrived at the buffet, the former grinning, and the latter fuming.

"So… what's with the urgency?"

"Well, we recently established successful expansions in Europe and Asia. This merger will determine if we're going to be able to expand to North and South America."

"Yes, I'm fully aware of that…"

"It's _extremely _important that this goes well."

"I know, Onii-chan. What's this really about? What did you want to tell me?"

"I did my research. As it turns out, you were from the same middle school as their Chief."

"Really? This is really exciting! Maybe it's Rika-chan… or Naoko! How intriguing…"

"It's Li Syaoran."

* * *

"Eriol! Why aren't you dressed yet?"

"It isn't for another hour! Don't be such a nagger!"

"An hour will come and go quickly! We still have to go to that place and check it out. This merger _has_ to go well."

"Alright alright! Sheeeesh. I'm not even a part of your stupid company! You don't see me dragging you around to my business meetings, do you?"

"That's because you never go, dimwit! You appoint your men to go for you!"

"Hey! I don't train them for nothing…"

"Whatever… In any case, we have to get ready now. I'm finally going to have a connection to South America if we seal this deal! So if you don't pry your addicted eyes off that stupid television, I'm going to pluck them out and sticky-tape them to the screen!"

"What the heck is up with you today Syaoran? A while ago, you scared the living daylights out of me, which by the way, is gonna haunt me for life. Now you're going all psycho-freak— Okay fine!"

Syaoran smirked. Death glares are one of life's most precious weapons.

* * *

"Li Syaoran? Who the heck is Li Syaoran?"

"That's exactly what I told Onii-chan! Tomoyo… I'm worried…"

"Why? You've been in these types of meetings before, and you did amazing. How's this any different?"

"Because! You don't know, what if he remembers me? And then he'd try to make some weird conversation about middle school, and then I would have to pretend I remember him! And you know I'm not a good liar…"

Tomoyo scoffed.

"…when it comes to other people! What if he catches my bluff? Then I would have to explain… What if he—"

"Why don't you just tell him the truth from the start?"

"That won't work! He might get offended! Then we'd have to start the merger under bad terms, and I'll be embarrassing the whole company, and Onii-chan and—"

"Don't talk like that. You're blowing this whole thing way out of proportion! Just go there, and pretend like you didn't know. Hopefully, he wouldn't either."

"What if he does? Oh no… What if he has a bad impression of me back then? He could just pull the merger off immediately, and—"

"Oh come on, Sakura. He's probably just as stumped as you are right now—"

"The expansion to the U.S. would be no more! Na-dah! Cancelled! It would be a big blow to the company—"

"Sakura…"

"It would be a disgrace to the name! Oh no… Rumors are going to start—"

"Sakura!"

"What if everything is affected? What if our investors lose interest, what then? This might even affect the hotels, oh no, we've worked so hard to place them there—"

"SAKURA KINOMOTO!"

"What!"

"Will you calm down? You're exaggerating!"

"Was I?"

"Duh! You just learn that your business partner is from our old school and now you're talking about the whole group of companies will start to diminish? What are you, crazy?"

"No…"

"Then get up, get out, and get to that stupid meeting!"

* * *

The car was coming to a stop, nearing the restaurant's main entrance. Sakura made a face before making a move to open the door.

"Miss Sakura? Sir Touya told me that he'd be waiting in the location's conference room. You could just go straight there when you arrive."

"Thanks Mak. You could go home now. Touya will bring me home."

"Okay, Miss."

"Sakura. Call me Sakura." She said with a smile.

She closed the door and braced herself. She watched as the car sped away and sighed.

_It's going to be a long night._

She turned around and walked toward the—

"Ouch! Hey! Watch where you're going!"

"Oh my gosh… I'm sorry, sir. I…I wasn't looking… And… well…"

"It's alright. It could be expected."

Sakura frowned.

_What was that supposed to mean?_

"Excuse me? What was that?"

"Nothing. I just meant that you looked a bit like the clumsy type, that's all."

Sakura's face contorted at the guy's smug attitude. Why, if she wasn't on her way to a meeting right now, she'd be—

_The meeting!_

"You know what, I've got no time for this."

With that, Sakura walked away, her face red and her dress wrinkled. Realizing this, she made a detour to the comfort room. Not much of a girly-girl, she simply straightened out her clothes, counted from one to ten, and made her way to the conference room.

She was about to open it when she heard Touya introducing himself.

_Great._

She opened the door, and entered.

"Good evening to all of you. Sorry I was late; some weird stranger just gave me a bother outside. No worries now, I'm—"

"I'm weird?"

"Wha-? You!"

"Yes it's me, _clumsy_ person."

"Wait, you two know each other? Oh that's right, you went to middle school together!" Touya said in mock surprise.

_Great. Just great._

"Onii-chan!"

"We're from the same middle school?"

"I don't know, honestly. He's claiming so and—wait! You still haven't apologized for bumping into me and calling me clumsy!"

"What are you, 8? And _you_ were the one who wasn't looking!"

Eriol rolled his eyes. This was NOT going well. The two were already fighting, and over a stupid accident! How childish can you get?

"Ahem."

The two of them, already red from annoyance, stopped and looked at Eriol.

"Since both of you are obviously engaged in a very business-related discussion, I guess I'm not needed here. Syaoran here's handling it quite well, so… Adios, amigos! I hope there would be a successful deal after this."

With one last smile to all three, Eriol disappeared behind the door.

"Same goes for me. I'll meet you at the hotel, Sakura."

"What? Onii-chan, I have no ride—"

But Touya was already gone.

_This night is getting worse and worse by the second._

"Well. Seeing as this is turning to be such a useless meeting, I'll be going home now."

Sakura didn't know how to react. The she remembered.

_It's __**extremely**__ important that this goes well._

"Wait! I believe we got off on a wrong start. I'm Sakura Kinomoto."

She raised her hand toward him.

_All for the companies, Sakura. You can do this. Plaster on a fake smile and seal the stupid deal._

"Li. Li Syaoran."

* * *

"Thank you very much, Mr. Li. I think you'll find it pretty good working side-by-side with the Kinomoto Group of Companies."

"Likewise."

Sakura can finally breathe. It was over. After 6 hours, 2 meals, 5 mango smoothies and 3 desserts, it was finally _over_.

"Okay. Good night, Mr. Li. I need to go home now. It's almost morning…"

She looked at her watch.

"2:30! How could that happen? Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, but I really have to go. They're probably worried sick about me and…"

"Relax. Your brother called me. I think your phone is off."

"Oh shoot. I forgot to recharge the battery!"

"I was wrong, you weren't clumsy."

"Well, thanks. I'm sor—"

"You're _careless._"

She couldn't believe this man! She was in all this trouble and he had the nerve to insult her! She couldn't take this anymore. She had to get of there before she does something she'll regret!

"Hey, where're you going?"

"To the hotel. Too hard for you to figure out?"

"Whoa, Kinomoto. Just asking."

"Yes, Li. Just _asking_."

She started walking to the cab terminal. The restaurant was a posh one: You wouldn't expect them to allow cabs within the compound, would you?

She exhaled loudly. That was one of the most tiring meetings of her life. Although she was impressed: Mr. Li had almost the same standards and requirements as she did. And she was known to be the toughest person to impress when it came to business and investments. Both of them could find loopholes in plans as naturally as they breathe.

She frowned. There weren't any cabs waiting at the terminal. It was usually packed!

"Damn. I'm gonna have to walk."

"You want a ride?"

She groaned inwardly. She thought she had left him at the restaurant!

"No thanks, Mr. Li. I can manage."

"Really? Cause it looks like you can't."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well… you're an executive. You've probably never rode in a bus before."

"Do your research, Mr. Li. My brother and I started from _nothing. _Unlike someone, we aren't where we are now just because the sperm and egg cells that made us belonged to company owners."

Syaoran sighed. He wasn't in the mood for arguing in the moment.

"Look. I just wanted to offer _my new business partner_ a ride."

"And I just want to tell _my new business partner_ that I'm fine."

"Just get in. It's not safe to walk here at this time. Especially for a girl."

_That's it Li._

"What are you implying? That girls are supposed to be fearful? That we're supposed to be weak?"

Syaoran didn't know what happened. But one thing's for sure. He sparked that all-too-familiar anti-sexism spark in Sakura.

"I didn't mean it like that—"

"You guys think you're all macho and stuff—"

"No. I just mean that more girls are attacked and sexually harassed than guys."

"And why is that? I don't know, maybe because guys don't know how to respect women? Of course. We look weak because we're attacked. We look weak because of men's barbaric actions."

Syaoran groaned. This girl was impossible!

"Do you want a ride or not?"

"No, thank you."

"Suit yourself."

Sakura quickened her pace just to get Syaoran off her line of sight. She sighed. It was a long way back to the hotel.

* * *

After around and hour of punishing her feet with those little things called heels, she finally arrived at the hotel. Not really giving a damn as to how she looked, she went straight to one of the hotel's cafés and threw herself down on the couch. A waitress appeared to take her order.

"What would you like, Maam?"

"One Iced Tea please."

"Would that be all?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Wait. I'd like an Iced Tea as well."

"Okay. I'll be right back with your drinks, maam, sir."

The waitress retreated to the counter while Sakura buried her face in the throw pillow.

"You followed me?"

"In your dreams, lady."

"Then why in the world are you here?"

"I decided that I wanted to stay in a hotel tonight. Is there anything wrong with that?

"Oh come on! That is the—"

"SAKURA KINOMOTO! Where the heck have you been?"

"Oh, hey Tomoyo. In the meeting, remember?"

"Until 4 in the morning?"

"The meeting lasted until 2:30… and the remainder of the time, I walked, and now I'm here."

"You WALKED!"

"Well, yeah. I sent the chauffeur home, Touya left even before the meeting started, my battery was drained and there were no cabs at the time."

"So… you actually walked the whole way?"

"Pretty much."

"Ahem."

Tomoyo turned to see a brown-haired man sitting across Sakura. Sakura, however, seemed to have not heard Syaoran clear his throat.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Fine. Tomoyo, this is Syaoran Li, chairman of Li Enterprises. Mr. Li, this is Tomoyo Daidouji, President of Daidouji Inc. and CEO of AmeJisuto Apparel."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Li."

"Likewise, Ms. Daidouji. Would you like to join us?"

Seeing the pleading look from Sakura, she knew that her expertise in handling annoying people was needed.

"Sure. I'd like a cup of hot cocoa, please."

"Certainly. Waiter!"

While Syaoran ordered Tomoyo's drink and a few snacks, Tomoyo turned to her friend who was currently wishing she was hit by a bus on the way home.

"Why is he here? Is your meeting still not done yet?"

"No. It was done a while ago."

"Does he stay here?"

"No, but he says he's going to stay here tonight."

"Why?"

"I have no freaking idea."

* * *

/ / If you review, I'd be happy. :) / /

/ / Oh, are you wondering where AmeJisuto came from? :P / /


	5. Yes! A rematch!

_Terribly annoyed._

"Why is he here?"

Tomoyo was never the one to panic that easily. She always maintained a calm disposition even at points of no return, like this one inside the hotel's lobby restroom. Sakura, on the other hand, was another story.

"Sakura, calm down."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? How am I supposed to calm down, when that weird, retarded business partner of mine just happened to decide to sleep in a hotel tonight? And of all hotels, he had to sleep in mine!"

"Maybe... he just wanted to test the investment he just embarked in?"

"Yeah right. Good businessmen always do their research _beforehand_."

"Is that so? Then why did you not know that Li Syaoran was our batchmate?"

"Well... Err... You didn't know either!"

"But honey, he isn't my business partner. He's yours."

"Argh! Shut up! You're not helping!"

"Why are you so upset anyway? It's not like he's really psycho or something..."

"I don't know! I just... I just don't like it when people invade my privacy!"

"Sakura. You're one of the most brilliant entrepreneurs I know. But you don't even realize that you own a _hotel_! Which means, people can check in and check-out anytime they want!"

"I know that..."

"So, what's the problem now? I think it's just because you're a bit stressed right now... Just breathe. Count to 14—"

"Why 14?"

"Because 14 is my favourite number. Quit the yap. Start counting. Then after that, you wash your face with cold water, plaster a smile on your face and go to our table. I'm going out first... you know, test the waters."

And with a giggle, Tomoyo left the restroom.

* * *

"Was there a problem?"

"No, Mr. Li. Everything's just peachy. Sakura's just...errr... fixing her make-up..."

"Oh. That long?"

"Well yeah... She also... uhm... changed her shoes."

"Changed her shoes?"

"Yes! She's still a girl, mind you. She gets conscious with these stuff."

"She's a girl? Didn't seem like it."

"Oh really...? So what do I look like, Mr. Li?"

"Ms. K-Kinomoto!"

"Yes, Mr. Li. And Tomoyo, I beg to disagree. I am a girl, yes. But I do NOT get conscious with those petty stuff! Those girly girl attitudes, bah. The thought is terrifying."

"So what were you doing in the bathroom for so long?"

"If you must know, Mr. Li, I was blowing off some steam because apparently, hot air is flooding in here."

Tomoyo was shocked. A few minutes ago, Sakura was all freaked-out and panic-y, but now... The Li chairman might get a dose of the Kinomoto sarcasm, which by the way, is surprisingly absent in Fujitaka and Nadeshiko. Sakura and Touya might have started the legacy on their own.

"Oh. So it lingered on you, did it?"

"What a pain in the—"

Tomoyo was starting to get amused. So Sakura has her sarcasm. Li Syaoran has his smugness. This was going to be an interesting night.

"Whoa, cool down, Kinomoto."

"How can I when you're being such a—"

Tomoyo smirked.

"You put that camera down Tomoyo or I swear, you will have a hundreds of mini-cameras spread on that floor!"

"As a matter of fact, Sakura, I do have hundreds of cameras lying around my mansion. So... go ahead."

Sakura was already fuming. Li Syaoran and his antics. Tomoyo and her calmness. She didn't know why, but it's driving her crazy!

"You know what, since both of you are clearly enjoying this, I'll be going now."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know! Swimming, bowling, whatever!"

"Whoa whoa whoa. Did you say, bowling?"

"Yes. Why, too stupid to understand that?"

"No... it's just that... I love bowling and... Is there a bowling alley here?"

"Duh. Where do you think I'll play, in the tennis court?"

A sparkle started to form in Tomoyo's eyes.

"Ahem..."

"What?"

"Just that, Sakura loves bowling, and apparently, so do you, Mr. Li."

"Tomoyo... I'm warning you..."

"What is it, Ms. Daidouji?"

Tomoyo's smile spread wider than her face could contain.

"Why not play against each other? What better way to get acquainted? After all, you'd be spending a heck of a lot more time together from now on..."

"Tomoyo!"

"Actually, Ms. Daidouji, that's not a bad idea. What do you say, _Kinomoto_?"

"Why will I ever play against you?"

"If you win, I'll leave you alone."

"Why would I—What did you say?"

"You heard me. If you win, I'll stay off your back. Except for business meetings, of course."

"And if I lose?"

"If you lose... I don't know. I will still have to think about it."

"I don't know..."

"You know what, never mind. There's no chance anyway that a girl like you could manage to play bowling against me..."

Emerald turned deep forest green as Sakura's narrowed eyes shot daggers across Syaoran Li's face. Syaoran tried to keep his composure, but it was hard... considering Sakura's glares can actually kill.

"What did you just say?"

"Ahm... I meant... you! You cannot beat me..."

Syaoran's voice was somewhat wavering.

"Why? Just because I'm a girl, I'm supposed to lose at everything to you _males_?"

"No! Calm down, Miss Kinomoto. I didn't mean it that way... uhm..."

"Really? So what is "a girl like me" supposed to be? Someone weak? A damsel in distress?"

"Please, Kinomoto, you're exaggerating!"

"Oh please. I've had it with men and their sexist egos. All they think about how they're so good when actually, they're far from it!"

"I never said anything about that... I mean... Daidouji! A little help here? Your friend is going ballistic!"

Syaoran looked at her with pleading eyes, those you'd never think could belong to an almighty chairman. Tomoyo merely giggled.

"Well. That's what you get if you spark that fiery feminist flame in her. That's Sakura for you."

"What am I going to do with her? She's weird!"

Sakura looked him dead in the eye.

"You know what, Li?"

"What?"

"Game on."

* * *

After the two rushed off to settle their little _thing_, Tomoyo was now left alone, giggling silently to herself about the events that happened. Who knew two very business-minded people could revert back to their childish nature just because of bowling?

"Excuse me, miss. Is this seat taken?"

"Uhm... No?"

_This is weird... There are empty tables around!_

"May I?"

"Sure. But may I ask why?"

"Because my legs are tired and I'd like to sit down."

"Witty, yes... But amusing, I don't think so. Are you aware, sir, that there are plenty of vacant tables around?"

"Yes."

"And...?"

"And I would like to sit here, if I may."

"Why?"

"I already told you, kind miss."

_Calm down, Tomoyo. You were trained for this._

"In that case, please, do sit down. I'm almost finished anyway..."

"Oh. So you didn't get what I meant."

"What _did_ you mean?"

"Did you really think I was that much of a doofus to not realize that there were available seats around the cafe?"

"Well... yeah."

The man smirked. Of all the things that Tomoyo hated.

"No. Actually, I came here to talk to you."

"Why?"

"Is that the only thing you could say?"

"Am I the only person you could bother?"

"Fine. I came here to talk to you, because, well... No particular reason."

"So you are some weird madman after all."

"Think what you want to think, Miss. "

"Okay. I'll be going now. Good luck bothering other people."

"No wait! Just a second."

"What?"

"You look pretty."

"Yes. And you're ugly. Thanks. Good night."

The man smiled as he watched Tomoyo walk away. This was really going to be an interesting couple of months.

* * *

"So how did it go?"

"How did _what_ go?"

"The bowling game. Or should I say the bowling duel?"

"Could you shut up? "

"Let me guess. You lost, didn't you?"

"Shut up Tomoyo. And no, I did not lose. It was a draw."

"A draw? How could you get a draw in bowling? That's almost impossible!"

"Well, we were tied. Period."

Tomoyo was silent.

"Tomoyo? What's with you?"

"Sakura..."

"Yes?"

"Do you know what this means?"

"What? Tomoyo, you're scaring me..."

"Sakura!"

"What?"

"This means..."

"Oh, no..."

"Oh yes!"

"Oh no no no no..."

"Yes! A rematch!"

* * *

/So... sorry for the super-late update.../

/What did you think? I'll try to update Find the Key soon.../

/Merry Christmas, Fanfiction People!/


	6. Thud

_Petrified._

"Good morning, Miss."

Tomoyo was never really a morning person. This wasn't obvious, since she almost always wakes up before most people do, but she doesn't appreciate the morning as much as she appreciates the evening. There was some sort of serenity in the deepest of nights that provided some sort of retreat after the busy day. In the morning, however, she gets the feeling of anxiety and hyper-activity. That might seem like a good thing, and it is, it's just that Tomoyo much rather prefers calm over hyper.

Tomoyo rolled over and squinted to see her awakener.

"Yes yes… Good morning to you too, Mister—"

Her eyes widened as she jumped up from her position.

"You!"

"Yes, me."

"What are you doing in my room?"

"Well I—"

"I don't even know you! You're not a thief, are you? Or… some sort of psychopath murderer? Oh my goodness, did you do something to me? I swear I'll kill you!"

"But—"

"How did you even get here anyway? Did you break in? You must have followed me! You're insane!"

"I didn't—"

"Why do you keep on bothering me? Do you need something? Money? Are you some kind of stalker? Oh my gosh, I need to call the police!"

"Wait! You don't understand—"

"What don't I understand? That you either tried to steal from me, tried to rape me, or tried to kill me? What have I ever done to you? Is this because I called you ugly? Still! You have no right to invade my privacy like this!"

"MISS!"

"What?"

"Does this place look like your room?"

"What do you mean? Of course this is—"

Tomoyo's eyes widened as she scanned the room. Indeed, she wasn't in her suite like she thought she was.

"Oh."

"Yes. And I haven't tried to steal your possessions, your virginity or your life from you. I merely came down here and saw you sleeping there. Seeing that the hotel guests will be here any moment, I tried waking you up. Not very psychotic, I presume."

Tomoyo's head bowed as she flushed a few shades of red darker. She actually fell asleep here! On one of the lobby sofas! She must've looked like an idiot. And what's more, she freaked-out. Panicked.

Tomoyo Amamiya Daidouji NEVER panics.

"Yeah. About that…"

She laughed nervously.

"Sorry… I thought you were… uhm… yeah. And thanks. Yeah… I'll be going now…"

There something weird with this. Tomoyo never blushed, never panicked, never laughed nervously, and never, _ever_ did stutter.

"Wait! Miss, I believe you owe me something."

Wow. She would've never guessed that this stranger was a greedy person. He looked rich enough to not be after her money. With a sigh, she took out her checkbook and started writing.

"Oh! Of course. How much should I put you down for?"

"What? No! That wasn't what I meant."

"No?"

"No. Do I look like a desperate person?"

"Well, no, but—"

"I don't want your money, miss."

"Then what do I owe you? Come on, you're wasting my time."

"Okay. Let's start with your name."

"My name?"

"Yes. Your name."

"My real name?"

"Why, do you have a fake name?"

Tomoyo was starting to get irritated. This man's smug attitude was driving her crazy!

"No."

"So, there. What's your name, Miss?"

She sighed.

"Fine. Tomoyo Daidouji."

"What a beautiful name, Miss Daidouji. My name is Eriol Hiiragizawa. It's a pleasure to meet you."

_Eriol? My cute little teddy bear has a namesake in the form of a madman. Great._

"Yes. I wish I could say the same. Now if you'll excuse me, Mr. Hiiragizawa, I'll be on my way."

Eriol watched as Tomoyo walked away in what seemed like a hurriedly stylish manner. He smiled.

"I think we're in for a pleasant ride, Miss Daidouji."

* * *

Sakura Kinomoto has always been a "dawn" person. She just loves the chill of the dawn, the quietness it contains. There's something about waking up at 3 in the morning. Whether she has something to do, or somewhere to go to, or nothing at all, she always preferred to do so before the sun rises.

A morning dip inside the hotel's luxurious swimming area is just what she wanted to do. So she gathered her stuff, put on her swimsuit and went up to the floor-wide swimming area.

There were all kinds of swimming pools on that level, including heated pools, kiddie pools, Olympic-sized pools, synthetic waves, infinity pools, Jacuzzis and more. It thrills Sakura to see all those pools so calm, without anybody in them. It's like she's in this beautiful oasis alone.

"_Hmmm… hmm… I can't seem to face the truth…"_

She sang as she walked to the edge of the Olympic pool. She shuddered at first contact. Somehow, she could actually feel the chilly December breeze outside.

She was about to close her eyes and enjoy the slow warmth the heated pool was giving when she heard a splash.

"What the…?"

She looked at her watch to check if it was already 6, which is when people usually come flooding in.

It was only 4 am.

The person went swimming past her relaxing form, stroke after stroke. It was as if he didn't realize that she was there, and it was 4 in the morning. He looked ready to compete.

The man finished the lap in a blur. He dipped once again, surfaced and turned to face her.

_Shoot._

* * *

Tomoyo opened her laptop. Sakura was out doing something.

_Probably swimming._

It was around 4 in the morning, and she couldn't sleep anymore. Deciding to check her long-ignored e-mail, whose inbox is most probably flooded right now, she grabbed her laptop and decided to kill time on her beloved beanbag chair. She was currently checking on the "To" section of the messages.

_Daidouji Inc., Daidouji Inc., Daidouji Inc., AmeJisuto Apparel, AmeJisuto Apparel, Daidouji Inc…_

_Nothing new. Contracts, invitations, proposals, Mom's in Paris right now? Awesome. I'll tell her to bring me back something._

She scrolled down her messages to check if there were anything not related to Daidouji Inc. and AmeJisuto Apparel.

_AmeJisuto Apparel, Amejisuto Apparel, Daidouji Inc., yada, yada, yada…_

_Wait a minute._

She scrolled back up.

_Moyo-chan._

She gasped. Moyo-chan. That was so long ago. Almost forgotten. And she wished it did become forgotten.

It couldn't be. Could it?

Before she knew it, one tear followed the other. She tucked her head in between her knees and began to cry.

* * *

"Ms. Kinomoto!"

Sakura couldn't believe her _bad_ luck. Of all the people who could mysteriously appear in the same place with her in the same time she did, it had to be that annoying Chinese gaki!

"I wasn't expecting anybody here at this time."

Sakura shivered.

"Neither did I, Mr. Li."

"So what're you doing here?"

Sakura had to laugh. She was in her swimsuit, and she was inside the swimming pool! What did he think she was doing? Fishing?

"Mr. Li, I know that education is merely a tool, but is not a necessity for success but… don't you have any common sense in that billion dollar head of yours?"

Syaoran didn't look the least bit affected.

"So… you think my head is worth a billion dollars?"

"Argh!"

Before he realized it, Sakura already splashed him in her frustration. Syaoran coughed in attempt to rid his nose of the chlorinated water, but even managed to smirk at his successful attempt to annoy the teen-aged CEO.

"You've already ruined my _peaceful_ dip. I'm leaving!"

Sakura did not know why she was this short-tempered with Syaoran Li. She just couldn't take the egoistic jerk!

"Wait! Are you a good swimmer?"

"What are you, an autograph book?"

"Just answer the question, will yah?"

"Fine. I'm an average swimmer. Why the heck do you want to know?"

"I'm thinking… this might be a perfect way to settle our little draw…"

Sakura was about to retaliate when she realized: She was one of Japan's prized swimmers. She'd finally be able to get the annoying gaki off her back.

"Fine. Across the pool and back. One lap only. Both ends should be touched. We start with my count. First one back wins."

And with that, she headed to the edge of the pool, ready to win.

* * *

"That cheater! That scheming, lying, cheating weirdo!"

"Sakura, are you okay?"

"No. And all because that stupid gaki is nothing but a—"

"Scheming, lying, cheating weirdo. We know, we know."

"Yes, you should know. Everybody should know! I mean, how can someone be so—"

Chiharu and Naoko looked at each other with weary eyes. Sometimes Sakura can be a little _too_ competitive. She hated being tricked. Especially by a guy.

"Oh look. Rika's here with our drinks! Rika!"

Sakura calmed down and started sipping her white chocolate milkshake. Slowly, her anger started to fade in the fluffy, creamy and sweet concoction.

"So Chiharu, how're you doing?"

"Oh, so-so. My dad's company opened its newest metropolitan mall downtown. They've appointed me to manage it there. You know, start my training, finally. You should come visit sometime!"

"Congratulations! Now you'd have another reason to… how should I put it, _require Yamazaki's services_?"

The girls howled with laughter as a bright red Chiharu sat, clearly embarrassed. Everybody knew about Chiharu's childhood crush on the guy. As a matter of fact, she never got over it. That's why the girls kept on "hiring" Yamazaki for Chiharu. Yamazaki was known around Japan for his excellent marketing skills (no surprise there, his parents were esteemed real estate agents), and the girls always made it a point to hire Yamazaki for Chiharu's ventures.

"Uhm… guys… I don't think that'd be a great idea—"

"Good morning ladies."

All heads turned toward the direction of the source. Naoko, Chiharu and Rika all stood up to greet the stranger cheerfully. It was Sakura who banged her head against the table.

"Is it alright if I talk with Miss Kinomoto? You see, it's a matter of importance. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

"Of course not. Go ahead and sit here, the three of us will be going to our rooms now."

"No need! That wouldn't make me much of a gentleman if I make you leave…"

Sakura scoffed.

"Nonsense. We were just going up, right girls?"

"Right."

"Well, thank you very much, Miss…?"

"I'm Chiharu Mihara. These two are Naoko Yanagisawa and Rika Sasaki."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Likewise. Now if you'll excuse us, we'll be going up now."

"Sure. Thanks again."

As the three girls made their way to the elevator, Sakura was silently praying that they'd go back and rescue her. She didn't want to go through this… again!

"What now?"

"Look, Ms. Kinomoto. As I've said, this is really important. We have a problem."

"What problem?"

"A problem with the merger."

Sakura's face suddenly paled.

"Why? What's the matter?"

"Come. The Li Enterprises lawyer is in Conference Room E. We have to meet her there. Now."

* * *

_Oh no. Oh no no no. Don't tell me, he's suddenly backing out?_

"Ms. Kinomoto, this is Akizuki Nakuru. Nakuru, this is Sakura Kinomoto."

"It's an honor to finally meet you, Ms. Kinomoto."

"The honor is all mine, Ms. Akizuki. Now, what was this problem Mr. Li here was talking about?"

"Ah yes. You see, there was a problem with the identity concerning the merger."

"What do you mean?"

"Complications arose when the merger's main holder was encountered. The Kinomoto Group of Companies and the Li Enterprises are made under different countries, and are technically bound by different laws."

"And…?"

"Well, it's a question of who really owns the merged company as a whole."

"But it's just a partnership in a single enterprise! It's not the KGC or the LE, just a small part of both!"

"Nevertheless, the "small parts" are under your companies. It's extremely hard to settle a thing like this, especially since the birthplaces of the companies are in different countries."

"Why ownership? Can't you just categorize it under simply, mergers?"

"We would need a representation. We couldn't just say that a company from HongKong and a company from Japan just decided to work together. Certain problems arise, most from the governing laws of both countries."

Sakura was silent.

"The circumstances refuse to put what will be your output and revenue under two names, or two owners. That would be like putting the total money value of your products under two countries."

"But, couldn't we just settle a percentage ratio? That way, we'd have representations for each."

"We could, but then we'd have problems for investors wanting to buy stocks. With all complications, chances are, they wouldn't buy anymore. Your expansion would weaken."

"But, what if we could settle to which name it would be rendered under?"

"Ms. Kinomoto. I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't want to sign the South American expansion under the Li Enterprises. That'd be like signing the whole of KGC under Mr. Li's name. And I'm sure Mr. Li wouldn't agree to sign LE under your name. Besides, even if you do agree on whose name will own this; the law will not allow it. I'm pretty sure of that."

"Is there no other way?"

"Well, you both can establish a new company, independent from both KGC and LE. After a year of operation, the new company can finally start its expansion in South America. You can both work from there, and merge the new company, with the preexisting ones. That way, a connection for both the names will be established."

"But, that's going to take so long! We need to start the operations in South America in 6 months! Everything is ready, this merger is the only thing needed!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Kinomoto."

Sakura was silenced. She'd never thought that she'd be failing this early in her career.

"There is… one thing."

Both Sakura and Syaoran perked up at this. There was hope!

"What is it?"

"Anything! Anything at all!"

"Well, Mr. Li, Ms. Kinomoto, I don't think you'd be particularly fond of this idea, but… it seems to be the only way under the circumstances."

"Say it Nakuru. We need this expansion."

"Yes yes. Whatever we need to do!"

"You'd like the enterprise to be an expansion of both the Li Enterprises and the Kinomoto Group of Companies, right?"

"Yes!"

"There is one way where the expansion could be under both of your ownerships, but could be technically under one name. And if you both agree, it could be arranged rather quickly."

"How? Tell us!"

"It could only happen if…"

"If what?"

"If the expansion is… well… _conjugal_ property."

"What?"

_Thud_.

* * *

/ What did you think? :P /

/ Who can tell me what song Sakura was singing in the swimming area? :)) /

/ Happy Holidays! /

/...reviews are highly appreciated… :D /


	7. He is so dead

_Bewildered._

A panicking lawyer and a wide-eyed CEO, people might think they've just seen a courtroom drama.

Syaoran sighed.

_This is so weird._

"Miss Kinomoto! Can you hear me?"

"You know what, Nakuru? How about you go outside, get the resident doctor and lead him back here instead of trying AND failing in talking to an unconscious person?"

Nakuru's eyebrows arched as she looked incredulously at her boss.

"Well it's not my fault that someone here does not even want to help! Hello, there's a CEO of a big global company lying flat on the floor over here!"

It was Syaoran's turn to raise his eyebrows at his employee. Silence ensued until Nakuru gave up.

"Fine, I'll go get the doctor."

* * *

_Disoriented._

_Huh? Where am I?_

She looked around trying to get a hold of herself, trying to make her eyes cooperate with her.

_Am I in my conference room? Is that… Li?_

Her eyes widened and her body shot up like it had just been hit by some wave.

_Mr. Li! The merger… Conjugal._

At the thought of that word, her whole body ached to faint again. She was doomed.

"I see you're awake."

"Amazing. At least you're not as blind as you are shallow."

Syaoran smiled.

"Just regained consciousness but can still throw insults faster than ever. What a talent you have there, Ms. Kinomoto."

"You know what? I don't have the energy for this. Where's your lawyer?"

"She called the doctor. She left a few minutes before you woke up, so I think she'd be back any second now."

Sakura sighed.

"So...?"

Syaoran looked at her weirdly and answered,

"So… what?"

"So… what do we do now? You know… with the whole…"

She gulped loudly and tried to speak with as much dignity as she could muster.

"…conjugal thing?"

"The way I see it, there are three things we could do."

"And those are…?"

"For one, we could actually form a new company, like Nakuru was saying."

"No. Too much time needed."

"We could run away from all these, quit and forget everything."

"NO! That's never the answer. We Kinomoto people don't quit. EVER."

"Well then. The last thing is that we could do the whole conjugal thing."

_Gulp._

"You mean…"

"Yes. We get married."

Syaoran was actually expecting another _thud, _but then she suddenly spoke with a voice he has never heard before.

"No. How can you speak as if that was such an easy thing to do?"

And with that, she turned around and walked out the conference room door.

* * *

_Angry._

"Kinomoto!"

She spun around and answered him icily.

"What?"

"So what do you propose to do? It's not like as if I planned this all!"

"Think of another way! Don't pressure me into something as unbelievable as that!"

"I'm not pressuring you! For goodness' sake Kinomoto, are you just going to let this merger pass? My companies need it, and I'm sure your companies need it also."

"I refuse to believe that there is no other way to resolve this."

"You heard Nakuru, right? By her words, it looks like we're stuck with that!"

"How come you speak as though marriage is a grab-and-throw situation? It is one of the most amazing things in life and I value it! I know I've never been in any kind of relationship before but I know that when I say my vows, I will say it truly!"

"I'm not saying that—"

"Shut up, I'm not done yet. Unlike other people, I believe that marriage is created to bond two people for life! As in, FOREVER. Till death do us part and all those jazz! I'm going to get married to someone I'm willing to spend the rest of my life with, and I DON'T believe in divorce, or separation, or annulment, or whatever violation of the sacredness of marriage there is. Marriage is not a glorified term of "in a relationship", and I'm deeply disappointed in everyone who thinks otherwise. So shut it with the whole marriage thing, we are NOT going to get married."

For the second time in ten minutes, she turned on her heel and walked away, leaving an amazed Syaoran standing there, impressed and proud for some reason.

_At least, there were still people like her who shared his sentiments. At least, there were still women like her who were moral and dignified. At least, the world is still not completely infested with ultra-liberated people who make his blood boil._

Syaoran had to laugh.

_But she still lost to me in swimming._

_

* * *

_

_Lost._

Tomoyo Daidouji was never the one to feel so helpless in any situation. But now, she wasn't in any state to even smile.

_Moyo-chan…_

She couldn't bear to read the whole e-mail. Just the sight of her old nickname reduced her to tears, and she was afraid of what would happen if she read what _he_ had to say. How would she take a whole letter if she couldn't even take those words?

_Why? I don't need this! It was over… all over…_

She was scared. The name echoed in her head again and again…

_Moyo-chan. Moyo-chan. Moyo-chan._

Right now, amidst her sorrow, her curiosity was getting the best of her. After all, it has all been so long ago. What could have possibly happened to prompt this email to be sent to her? What could have possibly happened that was so significant enough to bring chaos to her current life, and bring back the past she was so trying to hide?

_Deep breaths, Tomoyo. You can do this. It's just a simple e-mail. Nothing harmful._

And with that, she moved her finger across the touchpad and clicked on _READ._

* * *

_Amused._

Eriol Hiiragizawa had to laugh at the irony of it all. He was a carefree person, betrothed to a woman who was supposed to have no interest in relationships, just like him. He wasn't that bent on finding out and getting to know who this woman really is. He just had to meet her, didn't he?

_I guess it's just fate's way of making things more interesting._

He was wondering if she knew. He chuckled.

_She'd probably kill me instantly._

She couldn't even stand him when they pass by each other in the hallways of the hotel, what more if they were already married, living in the same house? He'd have to have some kind of armor to protect him!

All the coincidences were hard to believe. Even her teddy bear bore the name Eriol! How much freakier could it get?

"Tomoyo Daidouji…"

The name rolled off his tongue awkwardly, like it wasn't supposed to be uttered by his mouth. Like he didn't possess the right to say it. Like, it was some kind of a guilty pleasure.

_Ha. Guilty pleasure. More like a luxurious punishment._

Little did he know how much he was going to be right and wrong at the same time.

* * *

_Remembering._

She didn't know what to do. For one of the rarest times of her life, she was absolutely clueless at what she was supposed to do.

_Should I ignore it? Reply nicely? Rudely?_

Her heart shuddered at the thought of communicating with that person again. After so long. She still couldn't believe what she read.

_Hey Moyo-chan. I hope it's still okay for me to call you that. It's been like, 4 years ago since I last saw you! How are you?_

_Hey… I know we went our separate ways on a sour tone, but I want you to know I'm sorry. I know it's a couple of years too late, but it's better late than never, right? You always told me that when we were young, do you remember?_

_I really do hope you can forgive me. I've been spending all these time to, you know, find myself. I know I've been such a horrible person to you. I want you to know that honestly, I've changed. I don't really know how much damage I've done. I sincerely hope time has healed some of the wounds I caused, and made them more bearable so you can actually read this letter whole without automatically pressing that delete button. Haha._

_But enough about the past. (I want to forget it, but more than that, I want to help you forget about it.) How are you doing currently? I hope you're doing well. How is your mom? Busy still, I suppose. Are you studying, or are you in business like your mother? Haha. You know, I'm sorry about all the questions, but I just really want to know you again. As a friend, of course. It's the least I can do to redeem myself._

_I'm sure you've grown up to be the graceful woman I've always known you would become. You know, it's hard to admit it, but I've really missed you since… you know. Is it okay if… if I could see you again? At least, to talk to you again?_

_I know it's a bit too much to ask considering what I've done, but I always knew you to be someone who believes that people can change. Can you do the same for me? I really miss my best friend. _

_If by some miracle, you read this and decide to give me another chance to become your acquaintance again, call me at the number on my profile. If not, well, I wish you the best in everything. Thanks._

_Love,_

_Shichiro_

She had to scoff at the irony of it all. She was the unwanted one. She was the reject! And now…

_Now you all want to be close to me. Especially you._

She made up her mind. She wasn't going to be the stupid little girl she used to be.

* * *

"!"

She was already in the penthouse common room and Sakura was furious. Furious!

"Hey hey hey. What's your problem?"

"I'm furious, Onii-chan. Furious!"

"And you're furious because…?"

"'!"

Sakura drew a long breath. She did NOT want to get started on that again.

"Kaijuu, you're gonna have to talk normally. I don't speak monster."

She couldn't take it anymore! Here she was, with the biggest problem of her life, and her brother was still being a pain! She punched him repeatedly and shouted,

"I AM NOT A MONSTER!"

Touya had to budge.

_Whoa. This girl really packs a punch._

"Hey whoa hey! Calm down! Alright alright! I'm sorry!"

Sakura seemed to calm down a little, but not with a final lasting punch in the gut.

"Okay. Now that that's over with, what's your problem anyway? Clearly, this time."

"I'm mad, because that Li freak is suggesting we marry because it's the only way to save the merger and he insists that there was no other way just because his lawyer said so…"

Her voice trailed down as she realized what she was saying, to her overprotective brother nonetheless.

Touya on the other hand, was silent.

"Uhm… ano… Onii-chan… are you okay?"

"What did he say?"

Touya's eyes were dangerously dark now, and Sakura was almost hesitant to tell him again.

"Uhm… Onii-chan… I can deal with this… Calm down…"

"Sakura, I am asking you a question, so you give me an answer. What did that gaki say?"

"He said that marriage was the only way to save the merger. There was a problem and the only way out is if the expansion was… well… conjugal proper—Hey! Where are you going? Onii-chan! Wait!"

But lo and behold, Touya was already on the elevator going down to the conference floor.

_I am going to give that gaki a piece of my mind._

Only one thought entered Sakura's mind at that time.

_He is so dead._


	8. Let me see you try

"!"

It seemed as if every head in the conference lobby turned to see where the loud disturbance came from, only to see the esteemed Touya Kinomoto in a rage, stomping off in a hurry, and looking like he was about to turn red in fury.

"Uhm… Mr. Kinomoto, sir… Is everything alr—"

"Where is Li?"

"I… I don't know Sir. I think he is in the conference room with your sister… I left a while ago for the doctor and… wait! Is there a problem, sir?"

Touya paused and looked at the woman.

"What is your name, Miss?"

"First name's Nakuru, last name's Akizuki. I'm Li's lawyer. Pleased to meet—"

"You're Li's lawyer? Good. Now you better run and tell him that I'm about to commit a crime a lifetime sentence does not do justice to."

* * *

"!"

Tomoyo snapped out of her reverie when she heard her best friend's voice echo throughout the hallway of the Kinomoto penthouse hall. She hurried out of her walk-in closet, out of the room they always reserved for her for when she went with them here and into the penthouse common room where she saw her best friend practically screaming into every room in the large floor.

"!"

"SAKURA! Calm down. What's wrong?"

"Li's gonna die!"

"What?"

Sakura was panicking.

"I… I told Onii-chan about Li strongly suggesting that we get married to save the merger because the expansion has to be conjugal property or else the law wouldn't allow it. He freaked out and went down to get him and trust me, Tomoyo, he might be a super irritating brother but he's an extremely overprotective one and I don't know if he has enough self control to stop before he actually kills Li and—"

"Whoa whoa whoa. Freeze and rewind. What did you say?"

Sakura sighed loudly.

"Look Tomoyo, I don't really want to expound on that now, just… just help me control my brother okay?"

"Okay fine! But you owe me an explanation and a new camera!"

"Fine! And what do you need a new camera for? You already have millions!"

"That's why it's called a collection, Sakura—"

Sakura looked at her as she entered the private elevator.

"You collect."

* * *

Syaoran went back inside the conference room after Sakura walked out on him. He didn't really know what to do. He was surprised, confused, amused, angry, frustrated and all kinds of other emotions all at the same time. What were they supposed to do anyway? They were both too young and already they were dealing with stuff that even people twice their age couldn't even think about dealing with. Marriage? How was that an answer to a business problem? He completely agreed with what Sakura had said.

_Hah. I must've sounded like a big jerk. Great._

"Li!"

Syaoran jumped up at the booming voice and looked up to see Touya Kinomoto's towering appearance over at the doorway of the room.

"Oh Mr. Kinomoto! Nice to see you. Is there anything I can help you with—"

"Oh my gosh!"

Nakuru couldn't believe the scene she just witnessed. Her future boss by merger has just punched her already-boss full force: in the face.

"Mr. Kinomoto, what—"

"You listen to me Li! What's your problem?"

"I don't know what—"

"Don't you know my little sister is just 19? 19 years old Li! Does that sound like the appropriate time to get married? It's not even an appropriate age to date!"

"Mr. Kinomoto, if you're talking about that proposition—"

"You bet your head I'm talking about that proposition! Just in case you haven't noticed, my sister is a very respectable woman! She isn't what you're implying her to be!"

"No! You've got it all wrong!"

"Listen to me. YOU are the one who's got it wrong. What's with the marriage thing? This is business! Completely separated from personal things! You have no right to demand such things from my sister!"

"But I wasn't demanding anything from her! It was… it was an impulse! I don't know, I'm sorry! It's just that, there was nothing else that could evidently save the merger and I need it to actually save my company from becoming stale and idle!"

"We care about our companies as much as you do about yours; Sakura cares about our companies as much as you do about yours! But marriage? Are you really that stupid, gaki?"

"NOW THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Both CEO's turned their heads to see the object of their argument standing there, breathless from running. She seemed very distressed.

"You two stop it! This is so immature! Is this how you want your employees to see you?"

Both were silent, until Syaoran decided to speak up.

"But he started it! It was his fault!"

"Shut up gaki!"

"Both of you shut up! You both sound like you're grade-schoolers!"

"But—"

"No buts, Mr. Li! And—what happened to your face?"

"Uhh… well. It's no big deal. Mr. Kinomoto might have lost his cool and punched me but it's okay now, he's calmed down. It's amazing you know, how much your brother cares about you—"

"You punched him?"

"Sakura…"

"Onii-chan! I can't believe you! You know me! You're acting as if I'm one of those girls who throw themselves to every guy she sees!"

"But he was going to—"

"You're doing it again! You think that about every guy who talks to me when you know you don't even have to! I have the most impossible standards when it comes to dating, I'm not even sure I'll say yes to the person you will actually approve of! So for once, just simmer down, okay?"

"Sakura…"

"I know… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose my cool back there. It's just that, all this pressure, and the company and…"

Both men could not even talk to comfort the tired young girl in front of them. Sakura then turned to Syaoran and spoke.

"Mr. Li, are you okay?"

"Yes, yes. It's no big deal. It's not the first time I've been suspected to be a jerk."

"Well, in any case, I'm deeply sorry for my brother's rash behavior. I really do hope you don't take it against us."

"Like I said, it's okay. It's just a brother trying to protect his little sister."

"Do you need something for that swelling? Come, I'll take you to the clinic."

"No it's okay. I'm not fragile, you know."

Sakura turned to look at her older brother, who was currently being reprimanded by Nakuru and Tomoyo.

_He looks worse than me when I get grounded._

"Ahem. If you girls don't mind, I think my brother needs to say something to Mr. Li."

Touya looked weirdly at Sakura.

"Huh? What are you talking about—Oh. Right."

"Well, go on then."

Touya inhaled deeply before turning to Syaoran, who was currently massaging his bruising cheek.

"Hey gaki—"

Sakura glared at him.

"I mean, Mr. Li. I'm…I'm sorry for hitting you. I know it wasn't called for."

Sakura smiled.

"Good. Now, if everything is settled, I would like to go back upstairs to drown myself in milkshakes and cheesecakes and play games and watch movies until I get sick. In the meantime, Ms. Akizuki, please call the doctor again, I think he ran off scared. Onii-chan, I need you to stay and see to it that Mr. Li is taken care of."

"No problem Ms. Kinomoto. By the way, you could call me Nakuru."

"Call me Sakura then."

And with one last smile, Sakura went off, suddenly excited at hanging out for the whole day in her very own private theatre.

* * *

Tomoyo offered to drop by their most resident café to place down their orders so they wouldn't have to call them upstairs. Sakura, being already hyped up at the idea of an all-day playing-and-watching-and-eating spree, agreed and set off to prepare everything upstairs.

_That Sakura really needs a break. She's working like she's a mom with a 12-hour overtime shift—What the…?_

"I'm sorry miss, are you alright?"

"Yes yes, I'm fine. I'm—You!"

"Oh. So we meet again, Ms. Tomoyo."

"It's Ms. Daidouji to you. And what's up with this? Why do we keep ending up like this? Are you stalking me?"

"Honestly, Ms. Tomoyo. I have my dignity, thank you very much."

_Dignity my foot._

"Okay then. I'll be on my way now, Mr. Hiiragizawa."

"You remembered my name? Amazing. I'm flattered!"

"Don't flatter yourself Hiiragizawa. I have 947 cameras at my mansion and I can recite to you their models, the names I gave them and the country and year in which I bought them in right this instant. A simple name isn't that hard to remember."

"You name your cameras? Amusing."

"Get lost."

Tomoyo walked past by him hoping to leave him there, but to her dismay, it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. She ignored them and went straight to the café, where the staff happily greeted her with a smile. She answered a couple of 'Good Morning' greetings and went to the counter.

"Hello Miss Tomoyo, how are we today?"

"Rocky, but still good."

"I'm glad to hear that Miss. So… what will it be today?"

"Uhm. I'm sorry to say this but today's… kind of an off-day for Sakura."

"This early?"

"Yes well, things happen. That's why I'd like two combos of the…uhhh… Sakura "emergency" collection sent up to the penthouse every hour. Oh, and shavings! White chocolate shavings."

The two giggled at how ridiculous that was, but nevertheless, they both knew it was serious.

"Oh, so the usual winding-down combinations? I see Miss Sakura really is troubled."

"I think everything's okay now, she just needs to let go of the tension."

"I'm glad she's fine. Okay then, Miss Tomoyo, I'll have everything ready and sent via the food transporter in the…?"

"Oh, we'll be in the theatre."

"Okay then. It will be sent up to the theatre every hour on the dot."

"Yes yes. Please and thank you!"

"It is our pleasure Miss. And please tell Miss Sakura to get better soon. We need that smile again!"

That made Tomoyo smile.

"Will do. Thanks!"

As the young woman stepped out of the café, a voice called out,

"That's an awful lot for two girls to eat!"

_If he thinks that, then Mr. Hiiragizawa really doesn't know much about me and Sakura._

* * *

"You know Sakura, for someone who excels at everything she sets her eyes on, you sure suck at this. Big time."

"Shut up, you were just lucky."

The theatre transformed from a large, neat and cozy place into a large, messy and comfy slumber party-like venue, what with all the large pillows and multi-colored comforters, the glasses and the plates scattered around, the air-conditioned theatre filled with the sounds of the exhilarating games they decided to play on one of the many consoles lined neatly before them. They were currently playing a band simulation game where surprisingly, a supposedly classy Tomoyo was beating the heck out of a supposedly outgoing Sakura.

"Lucky? You call my 99% win over your 73% lucky?"

"No. I call that extremely lucky."

"Admit it. You just can't beat the ultimate champion!"

"Who's that, your teddy bear?"

"Haha. Very funny. Just pick a song so I can beat you again."

"Fat chance, _Ultimate champion."_

Just as she was about to press the green button, Tomoyo stopped her.

"Wait wait wait. I think you owe me something."

"What?"

"Well, besides my 948th camera, you owe me an extremely detailed explanation as to why that whole fiasco downstairs happened."

Sakura groaned.

"Tomoyo… can't we just relax and play and watch movies and eat today?"

"No."

"Please? Pretty please with melted white chocolate on top?"

"No."

"Fine. I'm giving you 30 minutes to ask me everything you want to ask about that. After that, you mind your own business."

Tomoyo gasped in mock hurt.

"I'm wounded, dear friend of mine! Mind my own business?"

"Shut up and ask."

Tomoyo laughed.

"Fine. What did you tell Touya?"

"I told him that Mr. Li was suggesting that we get married."

"Why?"

"Because the expansion needed to be conjugal."

"Why?"

"Because there was no other way."

"Why?"

"Because the merger was in danger of being rejected by law."

"Why?"

"Because there was a conflict concerning the representative names involved in every contract."

"Why?"

"Because we have different names and come from different countries."

"Why?"

"Because we are not the same person and our parents lived in different countries."

"Why?"

"Because no two people are ever the same and our grandparents lived in different countries."

"Why?"

"Because a human's composition and attitude is completely unique and our great grandparents lived in different countries."

"Why?"

"Because the DNA of a person is astoundingly complex and our great great grandparents lived in different countries."

"Why?"

"Because the DNA is made of millions of particles that are arranged in different ways and our great great great grandparents lived in different countries."

"Why?"

"Because there is such a thing called… Stop it Tomoyo!"

Tomoyo laughed loudly.

"Wow. That's a record! I asked you up to 11 why's!"

"Shut up."

"But seriously now Sakura. What are you going to do?"

"I… I don't know. I guess I should go ahead and delve into the amazing world of politics and business. There has to be some way. Maybe if we had a distant relative?"

"Okkkay. Sorry to burst your bubble but you might as well build a new company. Finding a common relative might take you even longer."

"You're right. I'm going to talk to Li. I don't know, tomorrow maybe. Oh my goodness. What am I gonna do?"

Sakura groaned.

"This is so wacked-up."

"But it's what makes the business world so exciting!"

Sakura stared at her best friend like her hair suddenly turned blue.

"You think this is exciting?"

"Cheer up Sakura. I'm just trying to make you smile. Now come on, I thought this was an "eat, drink, be merry and forget everything for just a day" day? Are you up for the guitar now or do you want me to kick your butt on the drums again?"

Sakura threw a pillow towards Tomoyo as she grabbed her drumsticks.

"Let me see you try."


	9. She would definitely freak out

"What, may I ask, are you planning to do, Mr. Syaoran Li?"

"I don't know."

"So… you're just going to let Ms. Kinomoto figure all this out by herself? Not very gentlemanly, Syaoran. Not gentlemanly at all."

Syaoran was just about full of his best friend's smug face.

"I don't know okay? Why do you care?"

"Whoa whoa whoa. Calm down Syaoran. It's your majestic-martial-arts-yin-yang temper working again. You've got to cool down a bit sometimes."

Syaoran slumped further down on the sofa he was currently slouched against. He put his head on his palms and groaned.

"How can somebody cool down in this mad situation?"

"Uhh… Swim in ice?"

"You're not helping!"

Eriol smirked.

"So… I was supposed to help?"

"Shut up. Why are you even here anyway? Didn't you hate coming with me to my business meetings?"

"Ah. But since I'm already here and this hotel is really beautiful, credits to the Kinomoto siblings for that, and that your suite has two bedrooms, I decided to stay here for a while."

"Wow. So who told you I'm going to let you? I'm paying for this room, mind you."

"Nobody. I just decided for myself."

"Whatever. If I didn't know better, I'd say your whole "staying suddenly because I just felt like it" was because of Ms. Kinomoto's best friend. What's her name? Da… dai…?"

"Daidouji. Her name's Tomoyo Daidouji."

"Yes yes, you're right. You're staying because of Ms. Daidouji! I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yes. I'm afraid you're right."

Syaoran smirked.

"I knew it."

"But not for the reasons you're probably thinking of."

Syaoran scoffed.

"Oh come on Eriol. How stupid do you think I am? You're interested in her, aren't you?"

"Well I am interested in her. But again, not in the way you're most probably thinking."

"I don't believe you. You're in denial—"

"Tomoyo is my fiancée."

* * *

"Hey Sakura…"

Both girls are now lying down on the piles of comforters scattered on the theatre floor. What was originally supposed to be a simple rematch on the drums turned into an extreme bet on who can play the most instruments for the longest time. The girls juggled between at least three instruments each and not one of them was very good at it. Nevertheless, time passed and so did the girls' endurance levels.

"Yes?"

"Do you… do you know who that guy with the weird dark blue hair is?"

"What guy?"

"You know… Tall, white complexion…"

"The one with the glasses?"

"Yes! Yes, that's the one. Do you have any idea who in the world that is?"

"Oh, that's Eriol Hiiragizawa. He's Mr. Li's best friend and business confidante. Why?"

"Oh. Nothing."

"I hardly believe that. Why are you so worked up on that guy anyway?"

"Well, I'm just so bugged by him, that's all. Why is he here anyway? Are you partnering with his company too?"

"Well, for now, not yet. If it isn't obvious, Mr. Li is giving me a gigantic problem as it is. But in the future, maybe."

"Then why is he here? Why can't he go back to that freak dungeon he must have come from?"

"Tomoyo, don't be rude. And I'm assuming he might be staying here for the very same reason you are."

'What? That's impossible. I'm not a stalker-freak like he is!"

"I'm not saying he's the same as you, I'm saying he's staying here for the same reason as you."

"I don't think so…"

"Well then, care to explain me why you're staying here instead of lounging in your home estate amidst all your beloved cameras?"

"Uhh…"

"Are you planning to start a merger with Mr. Li too?"

"Uhm… Not really…"

"Then why are you really here?"

"Why, to keep you company, of course!"

"Then why is it so unlawful for Mr. Hiiragizawa to keep Mr. Li, who is his best friend too, company?"

"But he's so frustrating! That smug smirk of his, he always pops up everywhere I go, he always literally bumps against me, and I really think he's doing it on purpose!"

"Why in the world would he purposely bump against you again and again?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's just a plain old freak. Nevertheless, people like him should not be allowed wherever there are normal people around."

Sakura laughed.

"Or maybe, you're just paranoid. Or assuming. Choose whichever one you want."

* * *

"What?"

_!_

"Syaoran, your phone's ringing."

"What did you… How did… Tomoyo's your fiancée?"

_!_

"Syaoran, I think your phone's ringing."

"How did you know? I thought you didn't know who you were promised to?"

_!_

"Syaoran, answer your phone."

"Never mind that! What we're you talking about? Explain!"

_!_

"Syaoran! That could be important!"

"Fine! But you're going to explain the split second I get off the phone."

Syaoran walked away from his smirking friend and answered his phone.

"Hello? This is Li Syaoran speaking."

"Good morning Mr. Li. This is Sakura Kinomoto."

Syaoran paused a bit. Suddenly, his bruise throbbed again.

"Oh, Ms. Kinomoto, what a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?"

"Is… Is it possible for you to meet me tomorrow?"

"Uhm… Of course! No problem at all. What time?"

"I don't know… Is around noon okay?"

"Very. So… same conference room?"

"No!"

There was a pause.

"I'm sorry. It's just that… can we not meet there? I don't feel like going back to that conference room for a very long time."

A short laugh was heard from both sides.

"I understand."

"Thanks. Can we just meet at the café?"

"Okay then. The café it is."

Not another word was said as Sakura hung up the phone. Syaoran sighed as if anticipating the chaos that was about to ensue.

"So… who was that?"

"It was Ms. Kinomoto. I have to meet her tomorrow at the café by noon."

"Oh. So little Xiao Lang has a date tomorrow… Interesting."

Syaoran winced.

"Shut up. It's a business meeting, in case you've forgotten about that whole fiasco. Do you want to come with me?"

"Hah. And ruin your date? No way! Although it may be nice to actually see you on an actual date… Nah."

"Again, shut up. I was just asking because I assumed that there's a high chance Ms. Daidouji will be joining us, and thought that maybe, you'd like to tag along."

"Why would I join you if she does?"

"Oh come on. And besides, you still have something to explain."

Eriol feigned innocence.

"Explain? What? Nothing really new…"

"Haha. Very funny. Now seriously. What's up with you and Daidouji?"

"I told you. She's my fiancée."

"Yes I know. How are you so sure?"

"Because my parents informed me that her name's Tomoyo Daidouji."

"Well, she's not the only Tomoyo Daidouji in the entire world!

"Would my parents promise me to a Tomoyo Daidouji in Guam?"

"That's a point, but still…"

"And besides, my mom showed me a photo."

"What?"

"MY MOM SHOWED ME A PHOTO!"

"I know I know. You don't have to shout! Sheeesh."

"Well, you asked for it."

"But… you said your mom gave you a photo? And you never showed me?"

"Why would I need to show you?"

Syaoran faked a hurt expression.

"Because I'm your best friend, why else?"

"You sound like a girl."

"Hah, well don't let Ms. Kinomoto hear you say that. She'll mince you alive."

"How would you know?

"Errrr… Experience… Anyway… Is that the reason you went with me here? Because you knew Daidouji is Ms. Kinomoto's best friend?"

Syaoran gasped exaggeratedly.

"Were you doing research about her?"

"No! Of course not! I didn't know anything about her besides that. I didn't even know she was going to be here, or that she's Ms. Kinomoto's best friend. It's just some kind of weird coincidence."

"Oh… So… Does she know?"

"Does she know what?"

"Does she know that she's engaged? More so to you?"

"I think she knows something about her being engaged to someone. But… I don't really think she knows it's me."

"Oh."

Both men were silent.

"Are you going to tell her?"

"Do you really think I'm crazy? She's already pissed with me as it is. I couldn't imagine what would happen if she knew she was going to be married to me. And soon, I might add."

"Soon?"

"Well, yeah. I'm 21 years old now, and I'll turn 22 in three months…"

"So?"

"So… I need to get married once I turn 22. It's part of our parents' arrangement. Something about them being sure that they'll still be alive to see their grandchildren."

Eriol shuddered.

"How in the world can you stay this calm while you're telling me that?"

"Well I've already known for quite a while now. It's still unnerving, but you kinda get used to it, you know?"

"So let me get this straight. You are engaged to my business partner's best friend."

"If I remember my facts correctly, then yes."

"And you are going to marry her once you turn 22."

"Not willingly, but yes."

"Which is… in three months."

"Considering that my birthday is in March, and it's currently December, yeah. It is in three months."

"How are you… when are you… what are you…"

"Syaoran, if you could form coherent questions, then maybe I could answer them."

"You're actually okay with that?"

"Of course! It's better if both of us can speak in a way the other can understand—"

"No, I meant with the getting-married-in-three-months thing!"

"Oh… Well, I don't really have a choice. Besides, I don't really know if I have what it takes to quote-find the one-unquote, so I just went with it. I already told you that a million times!"

"Yeah, but still…"

"Maybe it won't be so bad, you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe it'll just be like living in a boarding house, except that it's a mansion and we control everything that happens inside it."

Eriol laughed and added,

"It could be fun teasing her to no end every single minute of the day."

"Hah. If I didn't know better I'd say you're starting to get a little crush on Daidouji."

"What? No way. I told you, I don't really get 'crushes'. That's why I'm going with this whole thing."

"Whatever floats your boat Eriol. Whatever floats your boat."

* * *

"Ugh! This is so stupid!"

"Calm down Tomoyo, it's just a virtual pingpong game. Which, by the way, you're surprisingly throwing away. I beat you seven times in a row! What's happening to the _Ultimate Champion_?

"She's a little tired right now. Can we take a little break? I'm really pooped."

"You're just saying that 'cause you're losing."

Tomoyo glared at her.

"But fine! We'll take a half-hour break. After that, get ready to get your butt kicked in pingpong. Again. And again. And again. And a—"

"Alright fine I get it! I'll just go do something. I'll be back in 30 minutes and mark my words I am going to redeem myself."

"Okay then. Whatever floats your boat Tomoyo. Whatever floats your boat."

* * *

Touya didn't really know what to feel. His sister got mad at him for hitting Syaoran.

_But… that gaki deserved it!_

He knew that Syaoran didn't really want to force his sister into marriage. No, he wasn't like that. Somehow he knew that Syaoran wasn't like that.

_But still! It was a stupid thing to say. Marriage, because of business? Bah._

He was irritated at himself. He told Sakura he wasn't going to be the manic overprotective older brother a million times already, but he went against it yet again.

_Can I help it? She's just a little girl! She can't protect herself against those… those perverts!_

And again, the mental battle between Touya and sensible Touya began its usual bout.

But after a while unbeknownst to the problematic Kinomoto male, his thoughts didn't revolve around his sister anymore. No, it certainly didn't solely revolve around Sakura anymore.

* * *

Tomoyo went inside her room and opened her phone. She had saved an unwanted number in it and she was determined to talk to its owner once and for all. After all, it would only grow worse with time.

She took a long, deep breath and pressed the green button.

"Hello, Kimura Shichiro here."

Tomoyo was struck speechless by the sound of his voice. She was scolding herself for this.

_It's been 4 years Tomoyo. You have got to be strong enough to at least talk!_

"Uhm… Hello? Is someone there?"

"Y-yes…"

"May I know who this is please?"

"T-this… this is…"

"Wait… Is that… is that you To—"

Tomoyo panicked.

"This is Sakura Kinomoto!"

Tomoyo mentally slapped herself. She _might_ have said that a little too loud.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I thought you were someone I used to know…"

"It's… it's quite okay."

"So… is there anything I can do for you, Ms. Kinomoto?

Tomoyo was more speechless than ever.

_I really am stupid! What will I say now?_

"Errr… I… well…"

"I assume you are looking for Kimura Shichiro, yes?"

"Uh… Yes. Yes I am."

"So…"

Tomoyo sighed. She can't do this.

"You know what? Never mind. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Kimura."

But before she could even press the "End Call" button, a voice stopped her.

"Wait! Wait, Ms. Kinomoto. May I ask you something?"

"Uhh… I think so…"

"How… from whom did you get my number?"

Tomoyo literally slapped herself.

_How could I have overseen that teeny-tiny detail?_

"Uhm… you see… I'm in the Kinomoto Hotel here in Tokyo and… and… uhhh…"

"And…?"

Tomoyo's brain wasn't working anymore, so she did the only thing that registered in her mind: She hung up.

"Hey! Your thirty minutes are up!"

She smiled as she heard Sakura's voice reverberate across the penthouse. She stood up, determined to pretend that nothing happened and walked confidently to the theatre room.

She paused just before she entered the theatre and prepared herself for a grand entrance.

"I'm here! Now let's get this party re-started!"

"Sure… get ready to lose again, Daidouji!"

"Au contraire, Kinomoto, I think I can… how do they say it… make you eat your words…"

"Whatever…"

Both then set to "warm-up" and grab their weapons.

"So Sakura, did anything interesting happen during your half-hour break?"

"No, not really. I called Mr. Li by the way."

"And…?"

"Nothing, we'll just be meeting tomorrow at the café. Do you wanna come?"

"Uhhh… Not really. I wouldn't wanna ruin Sakura's date!"

"Shut up. Seriously, you wann go with me?"

"Nah. I think I'll go walk around and such."

"Or in your terms, shop."

"Oh yes, that too."

Tomoyo was showing such a perky attitude it was as if nothing happened just mere minutes before. Actually, the Daidouji heiress was trembling inside. She couldn't even think of what Sakura would think if she found out that her best friend used her name to cover for her because she was too afraid to talk to someone. But she knew one thing.

_She would definitely freak out._

_

* * *

_

/Woah! That had to be at least 3 chapters in a week, or something like that... :)/

/Hey. I really appreciate reviews... I'm really grateful for those who do. I just hope a relative newbie like me could eventually get 3-digit amounts of reviews.../

/Okay, that's a far-fetched dream. I hope you guys help me achieve that! Arigatou! :D/

/Tell me if you want me to continue, I'd be very happy! :D/


	10. Maybe next time

A very fidgety Sakura Kinomoto was nervously tapping away on her digital notebook, desperate to have something to present to her business partner, a solution of sorts, perhaps. She was up all night trying to deduce something, trying to discover some kind of way out of this whole mess. And for one of the rare times in her business life, she was failing miserably.

"Good morning, Miss Kinomoto. I was actually planning to be here earlier than needed but I see you had the same thoughts. Quite earlier, from the looks of it."

Sakura looked up from her failing search and half-smiled.

"Ah, Mr. Li. I guess our meeting will be started earlier than expected. Go ahead and tell the waiter what you want. From what I've researched, you're going to need your energy for this discussion."

"And what have you researched, Ms. Kinomoto?"

Sakura sighed and signaled for the waiter.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yes. Nothing."

"Oh boy."

* * *

_Miss Daidouji, a message has arrived. Miss Daidouji, a message has arrived. Miss Daidouji, a message has arrived. Miss Dai—_

"Urrrrgh."

Tomoyo Daidouji has rarely been the one to sleep in late. She didn't know why she was especially tired that morning.

_I blame it on the stupid pingpong games._

She grabbed her phone as her eyes widened at the time.

"10:28! I slept until 10 in the morning?"

She walked towards her room's bathroom and attempted to read the said message while brushing her teeth. She nearly dropped her toothbrush _and_ her phone once she read the message's sender.

_Shichiro Kimura._

_Oh no. Oh no no no no no no._

She started reading the message in her mind.

_Good morning Miss Kinomoto—yada yada yada—was intrigued by your call—blah blah blah—_

For the third time in five minutes, she was in panic.

_-I am in town—visit—Kinomoto Hotel—drop by—TODAY?_

_Sakura is gonna KILL me._

* * *

"So what do you propose we do, Mr. Li?"

Sakura has just about emptied her second smoothie glass.

"Ms. Kinomoto, are you alright?"

"Of course of course. Why do you ask?"

"Well, for one, you've been sipping on your smoothie at an alarming frequency. Either you're very nervous or you've just ran a marathon. I'm inclined to believe the first one."

Sakura sighed.

"Well, yes. I am nervous."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I can't see a way out of this."

"Out of what?"

"This! This fiasco! Your lawyer's right. Right now, that… that… proposition is the only thing that could save the merger!"

"And you're nervous because…?"

"Because it's a lost cause! There's no way out!"

"Well, you know what they say. If you couldn't find a way out, find a way in."

"That doesn't even make any sense. Who said that, anyway?"

"Me. And it does make sense. It means that if you can't escape something, Ms. Kinomoto, you should go ahead and face it, simple as that."

"So what are you suggesting, I surrender the merger? Crush the companies' chance to get a South American expansion? Put a blow on the stocks' potential investors?"

"No. I said face it, not give up on it."

"Straight to the point, Mr. Li."

"I mean, go ahead and take the challenge."

"The challenge of what? Marrying you?"

"I guess you can say that…"

"I can't believe you!"

"What? You're the one who confirmed it, there's no other way! You look just as concerned as I am about saving the merger as I am, probably even more."

"Can't you see it, Mr. Li?"

"See what? The way I see it, we've got nothing to lose..."

"Nothing to lose? Nothing to lose?"

"That's what I said. Besides, you still owe me something."

"What something?"

"You lost a bet remember?"

"Are you really that insensitive, Mr. Li? The way I see it is different! Because either way, I lose something really important! If I don't agree to this, one of my companies is going to hit the ground faster than I can imagine. If I agree to this, there's my whole principle, my freedom. They're going to disappear. Shamelessly."

"Okay fine! I wasn't really serious about making this your payment. Sheesh. That's why I'm leaving this decision to you. Besides, do you think this is hard only for you? Look. My family gave all of us siblings a company extension each for starters. Then we'd get to do anything we'd like to it. If this merger goes wrong, I'd still be rich as heck, but I'd be a failure. I'd be that spoiled little brat who can't do anything for himself. I don't want to be that person."

"And you're willing to give your freedom up for that?"

"Not really. But you never know how things turn out."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, actually. What I do know is that I'm not really all that riled up to find a 'love story' as some people may call it, so I might as well sacrifice it."

"Uhm… I don't know…"

"Look. I don't want you or anybody to think that I'm forcing you or anything. It's completely up to you. Besides, even though things like these marriage issues are important to me too, I know for a fact that it's more important to you women. So you decide."

"And if I decide not to?"

"It's completely alright with me. I mean, I think I can start from my family's main company again, and you're going to be left with tons of your other companies, so neither of us is even going close to bankruptcy."

Sakura sighed.

"And if I decide to do it?"

Syaoran paused.

"Then we do it your way. Your decision through and through. It's the least I can do since you'd be sacrificing that much."

Sakura's mind was going blank.

"I'll think about it."

Syaoran smiled.

"The fact that you're thinking about it makes me grateful. Thank you."

An awkward silence filled the air around the two conflicted business tycoons.

"So…"

"So…what, Mr. Li?"

"Well, originally I thought this meeting was going to last way longer than it lasted."

"And…?"

"And I have nothing planned for the rest of the day."

"Cut to the chase Mr. Li. What does this have to do with me?"

"Do you have anything planned for today?"

"Not really sure what it has to do with you, but no, I don't have any more plans for today."

"Would you like to go out with me?"

"WHAT?"

"No no! Sheeesh. Calm down woman! I didn't mean it that way. I meant, eat or something. Outside. My best friend has some plans of his own and such so I asked you instead, since you apparently have no other plans too."

Sakura sighed. She was actually scheduled to just stare at the ceiling for a whole day.

"Fine. Let me just go and get my purse."

"No need. I'm paying."

"Hah. I wouldn't let you pay for my food if you had a gun pointed at my head."

"Why? It's the correct way of treating a lady, isn't it?"

"Yes, if you're courting me. Which you aren't. So making you pay for my food will just make me dependent on you, even for the hour."

"Man, your feminist instincts are 24/7!"

She smirked.

"I know."

"And besides, what would you do if I told you I do intend to court you?"

"WHAT?"

A few heads turned towards them.

"Keep quiet, Ms. Kinomoto. I wouldn't want them to think I'm bothering you or something."

She smiled at the people as if to tell them that nothing was wrong. She looked back at Syaoran and whispered.

"What did you say?"

"Well, I am trying to convince you to marry me. Isn't that what normal people do to convince someone to be theirs? So I'm going to court you."

"You are going waaaaaaay off, Mr. Li."

"Say what you want to say."

"You are _not_ courting me."

"Isn't that my prerogative? I'll court you if I want to. Your prerogative is if you're going to say yes or no to me."

"Shut up, Mr. Li. You're going crazy."

"Aren't you supposed to be thankful? I'm giving you a… say, a realistic experience of it."

Sakura laughed and stood up to go to her penthouse and get her purse.

"Whatever, Mr. Li."

She walked towards the café entrance and was about to go out when she heard Mr. Li shout something.

"So yeah, I'm still paying!"

* * *

_Sakura is sooooo going to cook me and feed me to her tigers._

Tomoyo bit into her toast.

_Sakura is going to drain my blood and use it to paint my coffin._

Tomoyo gulped half of her smoothie.

_Sakura is going to go to my estate and crush all my cameras._

Tomoyo's body stiffened.

"Noooo!"

At this, Touya, who was on the other side of the breakfast table, looked up from reading the newspaper and looked at her weirdly.

"Is there something wrong, Tomoyo?"

Tomoyo laughed nervously.

"Nothing really, Onii-chan…"

She has grown accustomed to calling Touya Onii-chan as she and Sakura were practically sisters.

Touya's eyebrow arched.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Onii-chan. Nothing big…"

He went back to the newspaper he was reading and sipped his coffee.

"Alright then."

"Ano…Onii-chan… I'm going out for a while."

"But you haven't even finished your breakfast!"

She laughed nervously.

"Well yeah, but I'm full…and…uhh… my shopping senses are tingling so…"

And she dashed away from the dining area. Touya was confused.

"Bah. Those two are so weird. There is nothing harder to understand than young girls."

* * *

Eriol was bored to tears.

_Syaoran's gone, I have no one to play bowling against. It's weird… I haven't seen Ms. Daidouji at all today…_

His eyes brightened as he finally thought of something to do. He stood up and prepared for another inevitable meeting with the Daidouji princess. He chuckled to himself at how much he was going to annoy the girl again.

He went to the café and scanned the room.

_Nope, no sign of Daidouji here. Come to think of it, Syaoran and Ms. Kinomoto aren't here also… That's weird…_

He decided to sit down on one of the couches and kill some time there. But as he was about to tell the waiter his order, he saw a very flustered Tomoyo Daidouji walking past the café's glass walls. He apologized to the waiter and exited the café quickly.

_That's odd. She was here a moment ago!_

As he looked around, he noticed a movement at his side and recognized it as the girl he was looking for, seemingly tiptoeing away from one of the reception counters.

_Ah, there she is._

"Ms. Tomoyo!"

* * *

"Ms. Tomoyo!"

Tomoyo froze as she heard her name being called from behind her.

_Oh no._

She turned around quickly to find a very amused bespectacled male as the source of the sound.

"Shut up!" She hissed.

Eriol looked confused.

"Why—"

Tomoyo looked to see the man at the reception counter inspecting the lobby with discerning eyes. She panicked and did the only thing that could save her from being discovered.

She pushed the now-bewildered Eriol Hiiragizawa into a more hidden corner and once again turned around, looking to see whether they were still in the man's line of sight. Satisfied with their temporary hiding place, she leaned against the wall and sighed.

"Miss Tomoyo, are you alright?"

"No, I am not alright. What the heck were you thinking shouting my name like that?"

"Errr… I was trying to get your attention? Why are you so irritated? It's not like there's anyone here that doesn't know you. Or anyone who _can't_ know you, for that matter."

Tomoyo stiffened.

_Man, this guy's perceptive!_

Eriol sensed the tension.

"There is, isn't there?"

"There is what?"

"Someone who _can't_ know you. Someone you're avoiding, perhaps?"

"Hah. Like I'm going to tell you."

"S'okay. I'll just get out of here and shout "Tomoyo Daidouji" until my throat bleeds."

Tomoyo couldn't believe this. She was being blackmailed!

"Fine. There is. A person I used to know."

"Is it that man by the receptionist's counter?"

Tomoyo sighed.

"Yes."

"Why are you hiding from him?"

"Nothing. I just don't want to see him. And besides, I did something Sakura will surely kill me for. Don't ask me what."

"What?"

"I said don't ask me."

"I'll shout."

Tomoyo was slowly becoming furious.

"Go ahead and shout, for all I care."

And with that, she walked away from Eriol.

* * *

"Ms. Tomoyo!"

_Tomoyo? Is she…?_

The man scanned the room with hopes of spotting the so-called Ms. Tomoyo. He sighed.

_Must have been my imagination._

"Good morning Sir. May I help you?"

He turned to the receptionist and smiled.

"Yes please. I'm looking for Ms. Sakura Kinomoto."

"For what purpose, Sir?"

"Nothing really. Just a visit."

The receptionist smiled and replied.

"Sir—"

"Kimura. Shichiro Kimura."

"Sir Kimura, if you could just take a seat over here, I'll get back to you in a moment."

"Alright then."

The man sat down and took in his surroundings. Meanwhile, the receptionist entered a room and called the penthouse.

"Hello?"

"Good morning Sir Kinomoto. This is Meg, from RC-03. There is someone here who would like to see Ms. Sakura."

"Who is it?"

"It's a Mr. Shichiro Kimura, sir."

"Oh. Tell him Sakura isn't here. Did he mention why?"

"A visit, sir."

"Oh, then tell him to come again another time. My sister isn't here at the moment."

"Very well, sir. Thank you."

"Okay. Thank you. Bye."

The receptionist placed the phone on its cradle and went back to the man.

"I'm sorry Sir, but Ms. Kinomoto isn't here right now. Can I take a message?"

"Oh, just tell her Mr. Kimura came for a visit. She knows who I am."

"Will do, Sir."

"Okay, thank you."

He smiled at the receptionist and walked outside.

_Maybe next time._

_

* * *

_

/Christmas is approaching! A very advanced Merry Christmas to all of you!/

/Reviews are highly appreciated! :)/

/Oh, and if you'd like, you could leave a phrase you would want me to include in the story. I'm in this interactive mode right now, and if you have any phrase, may it be serious or silly, that you'd like to see here, go ahead and say it in your review. I think I'll choose a phrase or two and acknowledge whoever suggested it in the next chapter. :D/


	11. At least she's laughing now

"Whoa whoa whoa. Wait up!"

"Don't you have anything better to do besides bother me, Mr. Hiiragizawa?"

"No, as a matter of fact I don't."

Tomoyo sighed. They were now at a safe distance from the hotel lobby, standing in one of the hotel's outdoor lounges.

"What do you want, Mr. Hiiragizawa?"

"Well, there are a lot of things that I—"

"I'm not in the mood for your childish riddles, Mr. Hiiragizawa. So if you could just tell me what you need to say and spare me this whole snide exchange, then that would be just dandy."

For once, Eriol wasn't really sure what to do or what to say.

_Miss Daidouji really does have a problem._

"Oh. Oh, it's nothing. I'm sorry for bothering you at such a bad time, Miss Tomoyo. I'll be going now."

Tomoyo's face softened.

"Alright. Thank you then."

She turned around and walked towards the lounge tables. She had barely walked five steps when Eriol spoke up again.

"Wait. May I join you?"

She wanted to scream.

* * *

"Hey, has anyone of you seen my sister?"

Touya was beginning to worry about Sakura. She told him something about a meeting.

_But it was supposed to be here in the café by noon!_

He was already in the café, it was half-past twelve in the afternoon, but there was no sign of his sister anywhere.

"Oh, he was here a while ago with Mr. Li, Sir, but they both left."

"Do you know where they were going?"

"No sir, I'm afraid not."

"Where could have that gaki brought my sister?" Touya thought aloud.

"If by gaki, you mean Mr. Syaoran, then I think they ate outside."

Touya turned around to see the red-haired lawyer smiling up at him.

"That gaki ate outside with my sister?"

"Again, if by gaki you mean—"

Touya rolled his eyes.

"Yes yes, I mean Mr. Li."

"Well then, the answer is yes."

Nakuru's eyes were dancing in amusement as she watched the man in front of him quickly transform into that overprotective older brother once again. She decided to have a little bit more fun with him.

"I also seem to recall him telling her that he was going to court her."

"WHAT?"

"Oh yes! Ms. Sakura was laughing gleefully. Ah, it was refreshing to see the two of them in such situation."

"Akizuki, if you are lying—"

"Oh no, I sure am not! I specifically remember hearing him asking her if she wanted to go out with him. How sweet. I'm sure—"

Nakuru didn't have the chance to finish her sentence. The older Kinomoto was already fuming out the café doors.

* * *

"Chinese food!"

Sakura's eyes lit up as she eagerly walked towards the restaurant's entrance. She has always loved Chinese food, ever since she tasted her first dumpling.

Syaoran was amused. His "date" for the day was a multi-billionaire and here she was skipping like a child towards a simple Chinese restaurant.

"You like Chinese food?"

"Isn't it obvious, Mr. Li?"

"Actually, it quite is."

No other words were said as they entered the restaurant and sat down on one of the tables. A girl walked towards them and smiled.

"What would you like today?"

"Oh! I would have this, and two of that, and a serving of this and…"

Sakura said, pointing to different items on the menu. Syaoran, on the other hand, struggled to stifle his laughter. He knew that his business partner was a superb chef but he didn't know she was a superb eater also!

"And how about you sir?"

Syaoran broke out of his reverie to see the two girls looking at him expectantly.

"Oh, I'll have a bowl of beef wanton noodles please."

"Alright. I'll be back in a few moments with your order."

They both thanked the waitress as she left the table. Syaoran looked at Sakura with a raised eyebrow and asked,

"Are you going to eat all that?"

"Oh no, I'm going to scrub the floor with the dumplings. Of course I'm going to eat them! It's what do you do with food, after all."

"I didn't know you were so infatuated with Chinese food."

"I am! I mean, it's one of the best cuisines in the entire world!"

Syaoran beamed. Sakura continued.

"The amazing Chinese culture is amazingly expressed by their food. How they are so passionate in preparing them, it's amazing!"

"I know. We Chinese people are so awe-inducing."

Sakura's smile suddenly dropped off her face.

"I wouldn't include you in that, Mr. Li."

"Why wouldn't you—"

"Oh, our order's here!"

Syaoran couldn't even get a word in anymore as Sakura's attention was already on the plates of steaming food in front of them.

"What are you still doing there staring at me? EAT!"

Syaoran wanted to laugh.

* * *

"I don't know why you're so focused on bothering me, Mr. Hiiragizawa. And I told you, it's Ms. Daidouji to you."

"Then why do you keep responding when I call you Tomoyo?"

Both were currently seated at the garden lounge. Obviously, Tomoyo couldn't fend off Eriol, as much as she tried to do so.

Tomoyo was continuously looking around, as if trying to sense a disturbance of any sort.

"You really are nervous, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Look, if you really wanted to avoid the guy, then why don't you just go back to your room?"

Tomoyo was silent.

"Let me guess, you're hiding from Ms. Kinomoto too, aren't you?"

Again, silence.

"You know, it's not really good to lie to your best friend."

"What makes you think I'm lying to her?"

"Nothing, just a hunch."

"I have never lied to Sakura. She tells me everything, I tell her everything. She even almost knew about my engagement, for goodness' sake!"

It took all of Eriol's self-control not to jump up and yell "I know right?" at her.

"Your engagement?"

Tomoyo wanted to slap herself. She just revealed one of her biggest secrets to practically a complete stranger!

"Oh…uhm…that's really nothing."

"Oh, so an engagement for you is nothing?"

"Of course not!"

When Eriol didn't speak, she sighed.

_You know what? I don't care anymore. Just this once._

"I'm engaged to someone I don't know."

Eriol faked skepticism.

"What?"

"I'm arranged to marry someone whose name I don't even know."

"So… why aren't you freaking out?"

"Oh come on Mr. Hiiragizawa. I've known for years. I couldn't really freak out every single time I remember it, could I? Although I must admit, it still is pretty unnerving."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sure you are. Everybody is! I don't want to sound rude but honestly, a million "I'm sorry's" wouldn't change a single thing about that stupid engagement!"

Eriol was surprised at the girl's sudden outburst. She was usually so calm and composed even amidst his annoying antics!

"Uhm…"

"You know what I need, Mr. Hiiragizawa? I need to talk to someone who can actually understand what the heck I'm going through. I know it's not right but I was a bit amused when Sakura told me about their problem, because finally, someone would go through at least half of what I did. I mean, I know it's incredibly selfish of me, but come on! She's lucky she even has a say in all of this, while I was only told about the engagement after it was irrevocable already!"

Eriol chuckled.

"May I ask what's so funny, Mr. Hiiragizawa?"

"Nothing. You've come to the right person after all."

Tomoyo's eyebrow arched.

"What?"

"Nothing. "

"What did you mean?"

Eriol smiled.

"I told you, it was nothing. Now, I thought you couldn't stand that topic? Why are we still talking about it?"

"I don't know…"

"Then let's talk about other things, okay?"

Tomoyo, for the first time since she met Eriol, smiled at him genuinely.

"Okay then."

A quick silence ensued but this time, it was Tomoyo who broke it.

"So… Sakura told me you had your own companies. Tell me about them."

Eriol's eyes widened at the woman's attempt to start a conversation.

_She's trying to talk with me… Normally! Interesting… _

He smiled and answered.

"Well actually, I had this idea years ago…"

* * *

Laughter surrounded the two CEO's.

"No way!"

"Oh shut up."

"You punched a teacher in the face? Man, I knew it! You really are an Amazon!"

"He kept on blabbering about how impossible it was for me to do anything worthwhile!"

"Well you sure proved him wrong."

"I sure did. And besides, he had the nerve to tell me that while he kept on encouraging this classmate of mine who couldn't even put a turtle in the water! Just because he was a male! Oh for…"

Syaoran became silent.

"Well… Don't you think it was just a small mistake? I mean, not everyone discovers everything early."

Sakura sensed something and decided to probe into it more.

"Wait a minute. Don't tell me…"

A hint of fear flashed in Syaoran's eyes but he quickly kept his composure. But Sakura, being the observant executive that she was, noticed it like it lasted for hours.

"It was you!"

Sakura burst into laughter.

"You were that stupid little guy back in middle school!"

"Hey! I resent that!"

Sakura just laughed.

After a while, Sakura fell silent. Syaoran continued to sip on his noodle soup and suddenly noticed the lack of laughter from the young woman across him.

"Uhm… Ms. Kinomoto, is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that, I would never have thought that that stupid little guy—"

Syaoran scoffed.

"As I was saying, I would never have thought that _that_ classmate of mine would be the closest thing to a relationship I would have."

Sakura fell silent. Syaoran, in one of the rare times he ever did, felt pity for the woman in front of him. He knew she wasn't an average girl, he knew this was hard on her. His mother had always told him that women valued relationships, but he knew that this particular woman valued it like _he_ himself did, the way he expected women to value it: with dignity and morals.

"Hey, cheer up Kinomoto. It's not like it's such a bad thing to be with _the_ Syaoran Li!"

Sakura rolled her eyes in mockery and laughed.

"It's a very bad thing, _Li._ A very very bad thing to be with such an egoistic weirdo."

Even though the younger of the two continued on deflating Syaoran's supposedly "over-inflated ego", the latter didn't really care for once.

_At least she's laughing now._


	12. Absolutely nothing romantic

"How was the date?"

Tomoyo, being the amazing actress that she was, managed to hide all her nerves and look Sakura in the eye. Sakura, on the other hand, didn't notice whatever Tomoyo was hiding and seemed unaffected by her best friend's teasing.

"It was fun. We ate Chinese food."

Tomoyo's eyes grew wider than they normally would and stared at the Kinomoto girl, obviously awestruck.

"Y-you… You…"

An eyebrow arched.

"I what?"

"You… I mean…"

"Swallow and tell me."

Tomoyo did so.

"You didn't deny it!"

"Deny what?"

"That it was a date!"

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"So? What's the big deal?"

"Oh come on. Sakura Kinomoto, the world's most defensive person when it comes to men, admits in effect that she had in fact, just been on a date with her mortal enemy?"

"You're overreacting Tomoyo."

"Oh really? How?" Tomoyo challenged.

"Well for one, you haven't met every single person in the world so you can't brand me as the world's most defensive person."

Tomoyo just rolled her eyes.

"Secondly, I did not admit anything."

"You didn't deny it either."

"Not doing something does not mean doing the opposite of it. If you don't love someone, it doesn't mean that you hate him. Same banana."

Tomoyo was ready to admit defeat when Sakura continued.

"But in any case, it's true. It was a date."

"WHAT?"

Sakura jumped at the loudness of the expression. But what made her hair stand on their very roots was the fact that the voice sounded stronger, more mature, more… masculine.

"Ano… Onii-chan…"

Yes, how the mighty fall.

* * *

"I'm guessing… you met up with Ms. Daidouji."

At this, Eriol's eyes danced in amusement, much to the surprise of Syaoran, who was expecting his eyes to widen without his consent.

"And what makes you think that?"

"Because even though you grin and smirk and laugh all the time, you don't…smile. Not like that."

"Like what?"

"Like a child finally getting a cookie from the cookie jar way up on the cupboard. Like you do when you're thinking of Tomoyo Daidouji."

Eriol stared at Syaoran.

"Or ways to annoy her. Same banana."

Eriol laughed.

"Fine, if you must know, I did have lunch with her a while ago. She was…upset about something. So I…sort of, cheered her up."

"In your own twisted way, I assume."

"Of course. No other way but the twisted way."

"ANY other way but the twisted way."

"Think what you want, Syaoran Li. But the Eriol Hiiragizawa way always works."

"I highly doubt that."

"Oh really?"

"Really. In fact, I'll wager on that."

Eriol's eyebrow raised in interest.

"What's the bet?"

"You say your way always works? Even with…say…your betrothal?"

"What about it?"

"Have you told Ms. Daidouji yet?"

Eriol shook his head.

"Well then, we have ourselves a bet. Tell her about it and if she doesn't proceed to rip your head off, I'll buy you a Lamborghini Reventon. Customized."

Eriol grinned in interest. He loved Lamborghinis. He actually collected them.

"And if I fail?"

"If you fail, we tell her the Syaoran Li way."

"The Syaoran Li way? And what, tell me, would that be?"

"The most embarrassing way possible."

Eriol paused to think.

"What do I have to do again?"

"You just have to tell her. Within the next 48 hours."

Eriol smirked.

"That's too easy. I bet you I could make her reply something positive in return."

"You're too confident, Hiiragizawa."

"I told you, the Eriol Hiiragizawa way never fails."

"We'll see about that. So do we have a deal?"

"Yes. Deal."

The best friends shook hands in formality.

"Get ready to buy me Lamborghini number 42, Syaoran Li."

* * *

"What did you just say?"

Touya's eyes were blazing as he studied his nervous sister, and her just-as-nervous best friend.

"Oh… Onii-chan, I didn't know you were here already… How was—"

"You're going to answer my question, Sakura. What. Did. You…"

His voice lowered an octave and his eyes were in a dangerously narrow position.

"…Say?"

"I…ahh…Tomoyo?"

Sakura turned to Tomoyo for support, but instead found her half-an-inch from the door.

"Sorry, Saks, this is your weird lovelife-protective-brother-battle issue, not mine. See ya!"

And she dashed through the door, leaving Sakura under the scrutinizing gaze of her older brother, which was getting darker and darker every second.

"—some best friend she is…" Sakura muttered, shaking her head. She looked up to see her brother and got even more nervous when she realized that he wasn't blinking. She knew the only way out when being cornered by a fire is through it, and with one last gulp, she finally did.

"I was on a date with Mr. Li. He…uhm… took me out for Chinese food…"

"So THAT'S it? He gives you some of your favorite food and you bow down, just like that? I thought you were a little bit higher than that, Sakura!"

"Oh come on, Onii-chan, it's just ONE date! And it's not even malicious, it was a friendly date—"

"NO DATES ARE FRIENDLY!"

"That's your opinion, Onii-chan! You only think that because you don't trust me enough to make my own decisions…"

"You know that's not true, Sakura! You're the most eligible girl in Japan, for goodness' sake! You need someone to protect you!"

"And you think I couldn't do that? You think I'm too fragile that you can't leave me alone without me breaking?"

Touya scoffed.

"Well, fragile enough to break for just a couple of dumplings."

Sakura was hurt, to say the least. She knew she wasn't THAT kind of girl, but it hurt when the person you trust the most in the world thinks otherwise.

"That's what you think of me? That I can be bought? It wasn't because of the Chinese food!"

"Then why? Why, tell me, did you have to go out with him? Is this because of that stupid business proposal of his? I am going to strangle that weird lawyer of his!"

"Nakuru has nothing to do with this!"

"Oh, so now you're close with his employees?"

"She's my friend! Just because you find it so hard to make friends, doesn't mean I do too!"

"Don't change the topic! Is it because of the merger?"

Sakura didn't know how to answer. It was very, very easy to say no to that question, except when the answer was yes.

She couldn't believe herself. She CAN be bought! Bought by the idea of maintaining one of her companies, bought by the idea of saving herself from failure. Bought by the idea of having another company to add to her trophy case.

It WAS because of the merger, and she knew it. This was the first time in her life that she actually wished she was in love with a guy. So that there could be some justification for her giving away her first date just like that.

But she couldn't deny the fact that she did go out with the Li Corp. Chairman primarily because of the merger. She mentally slapped herself for being that stupid!

But her brother didn't have to know that.

"It was a friendly date! We caught up and talked about middle school and stuff like that, just like you told me to!"

Touya didn't look convinced.

"Look, Onii-chan. You know me. It was nothing romantic, or even anything close to being romantic. So could you just please stop worrying?"

"But—"

"If you speak another word regarding this I will call every girl you know and tell them that Touya Kinomoto is single and available."

"You wouldn't!"

"Yes, I would. I think it's time that people finally found out that your precious overseas fiancée is nothing but a ploy to keep girls away from the stoic, unreachable Touya Kinomoto."

"Don't you dare!"

"Well, if you don't want me to meddle in your so-called love life, then stop meddling in mine."

Touya was silent.

"Or lack thereof. I told you, it was nothing romantic."

_Absolutely nothing romantic._


	13. Ain't that weird

"Ms. Daidouji."

Tomoyo turned around to see a blue-haired man standing a few metres away from her.

"Very surprising, Mr. Hiiragizawa. You actually called me Daidouji!" She said with a laugh.

Eriol casually leaned against a post and pretended to look somewhere distant. He ran his hand through his hair –Tomoyo rolled her eyes at this- and sighed.

"You know, if only sarcasm wasn't existent in this world, then maybe—"

"You'd go crazy? Oh come on Eriol, we all know you thrive on sarcasm."

Tomoyo started to laugh when she realized that the man beside her was still silent, still looking at the distance… but in this case, he was smirking.

She did a double take.

Yes, he was in fact, smirking. And her hand, as if by reflex, flew to her mouth in shock.

"Very surprising, Ms. Daidouji. You actually called me Eriol!"

* * *

Syaoran found himself stopping by the Chinese restaurant on his way back to the hotel from a meeting to pick up a few dumplings, as advised by resident charmer Eriol Hiiragizawa ("You have to give her more food!") for a certain girl he was supposed to be courting.

_I bet she'd go crazy over these dumplings again._

* * *

"Hey Kinomoto!"

Two heads turned towards the source of the voice, which just happened to be an exceptionally giddy Syaoran Li.

Who stiffened immediately at the sight of a not-so-exceptionally furious Touya Kinomoto.

"Oh it's the gaki again."

"Onii-chan, be nice. I'm sure your fiancée in France wouldn't be happy if she knew you were bullying younger boys now would she?"

Touya glared at her and walked away slowly, taking the time to glare at every inch of the supposed gaki's eyes. Meanwhile, Syaoran was too busy building up his most confident smirk just to counter the effect of Touya's glare.

Once the older Kinomoto has gone a safe distance away from them, he started speaking.

"Kinomoto, you—"

"Do you have some kind of dumpling with you?"

"How did—"

"Yes, I'm sure you have. It's either a shrimp dumpling or a… No, it's definitely the shrimp dumplings…"

"How did—"

"Oh, and I think you brought their special soy sauce too! Can I have some?"

"Of course! I actually bought this for you…" Syaoran muttered, his voice becoming smaller with every word.

_That's weird. I never do that._

But of course, he shook that millisecond situation off his head before speaking once again.

"Just one question, how did you—"

"Oh, the smell."

"The smell? But it's covered with various things. How could you possibly smell this?"

"I don't know. It could be a magical gift, who knows?"

Syaoran was impressed, to say the least.

"You really do know your food, don't you?"

Sakura smirked. Of course she did! She was a world-class chef, for crying out loud!

"Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

"Not much. I just thought we could hang out for a bit. I have nothing to do."

"Then why not hang out with your best friend?"

"Well, he has something to do. And besides, I know for a fact that when a man is courting a woman, he should spend most of his time trying to woo her."

The Kinomoto girl rolled her eyes.

"And where did you read that, Courting for Dummies?"

"I'm hurt at the insinuation, Ms. Kinomoto…"

An eyebrow was raised.

"…and I read it in a WikiHow link."

Sakura just laughed.

* * *

"Stupid gaki. Playing with my sister. Gaki. Stupid rich Chinese spoiled jerk gaki gaki gaki…"

"Mumbling to yourself. You must be troubled, Mr. Kinomoto."

Touya abruptly spun around to find the Li Corp. lawyer smirking.

"Ms. Akizuki—"

"Nakuru."

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Nakuru. You could call me that."

"Uhm. I'd rather not."

"Come on! We're probably going to be working with each other for a long time."

"I don't know you that well, Ms. Akizuki. I just know you as that gaki's lawyer."

"See? You don't know Mr. Li that much, yet you're calling him gaki already."

"That's different!"

"Why?"

"Because! He's toying with my little sister and he deserves to be called gaki."

"And I don't deserve to be called by my first name?"

Touya sighed loudly.

"This is a completely useless conversation. Do you need something, Ms. Akizuki?"

"Nakuru."

_This girl is ridiculously annoying._

And with that, Touya turned around and started walking away. Nakuru giggled when he heard a chant of "gaki, gaki, gaki" again from the man's mouth.

"That's Mr. Li to you!"

* * *

"Hey…Ms. Daidouji?"

It took a minute for the Daidouji heiress to reply. It was such a peaceful sight around the pool, she almost fell asleep.

"Yes, Mr. Hiiragizawa?"

"Would you like to be friends?"

Eriol was actually very pleased with himself. His voice never ever failed him whenever he needed it to sound natural, rather than sound creepy.

Tomoyo, on the other hand, was surprisingly pleased. Most other guys try coming up with some witty line just to be able to talk to her, but she appreciated the innocence behind the straightforwardness of the question.

_Even if it is from this blue-haired freak._

"Are you going to bother me until I say yes?"

"Pretty much."

She giggled.

"Then sure."

Eriol was shocked. Very shocked. He was preparing for a long to-and-fro of insults and clever comebacks, but he wasn't prepared to hear her say yes at all.

_This kind of ruined my plan._

Nevertheless, it was going to take more than that to break the suave, collected aura that surrounds Eriol.

"I'm glad."

Another air of silence enveloped the two. For a moment there, only the splash of the people swimming in the pool was heard, until of course, Eriol had to break it.

"Were you really serious?"

"Hmmm? About what?"

"It's okay for you to be friends with me?"

"I said sure, didn't I?"

"Well, yes, but it's kind of hard to believe. After all, you have been trying to avoid me ever since we got here."

"Could you blame me? You're annoying; of course I want to avoid you."

"Then why would you agree to be friends?"

Tomoyo smiled.

"Why, is it too much for you to fathom?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

Tomoyo inhaled. She was enjoying the company of a friend other than Sakura and Touya, she had to admit.

_Friend. That's so weird referring to this…stalker-ish person as a friend._

"Well, I realized that I couldn't get rid of you without the use of violence, so I thought it'd be best to just stop trying."

Eriol laughed.

"Violence? I don't believe I was that annoying!"

"Well you were! And I think you still are… But I want to make new friends too, and you seem a bit decent, and I could sharpen my banter skills when you're around, so why not?"

"That's an interesting way to put it. So I'm a practice tool for your quarreling skills?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Very well then. I'll try my best to keep your so-called banter skills in top shape."

"Oh no. You're going to be more annoying, aren't you?"

"Of course! Why, are you scared?"

Tomoyo scoffed.

"Me? Scared of you? Please. I welcome the challenge."

* * *

_Dumpling dumpling dumpling dumpling!_

Sakura Kinomoto is a girl of many characters. She's spontaneous, and unpredictable, yet she's simple and grounded at the same time. And sometimes, her simplicity is showcased in her weird fondness for _siomai_, or her favorite little dumpling friends.

Here she was, walking (or skipping) around the serene man-made lake that their hotel was famous for, the trees were bending to-and-fro to the slightly strong breeze that swept across the fields and the hotel guests were scattered all around doing everything from picnicking to swimming.

And all she can think about were the dumplings.

_Even if they were from an annoying little weirdo._

She kept on thinking about the moist and tender meat that was seasoned and blended to perfection, covered by a delectable layer of that soft, flour-y almost egg-y wanton wrapper, topped with a small piece of her most favorite meat in all of the world: the shrimp.

_Yeah, it was incredibly lucky of him to have bought shrimp dumplings._

She imagined how those perfectly steamed little ingenious creations would go oh-so-well with a bowl (or two) of steaming hot Japanese rice. Or better yet, a platter of hot-from-the-wok YangChow fried rice. She could just imagine every rice kernel, every pea, every piece of ham, every egg sliver and everything else in that dish mixing in perfect harmony with every bite of her precious dumplings.

_How come he didn't bring YangChow rice too? _

She frowned at the thought. She rarely ate Chinese food without their rice!

_I'm being silly. But still… I guess it's for the better. Onii-chan would've thrown the rice back at his face if he knew Li had some. _

Her face froze in horror.

_But then it would be wasted! Such a glorious thing shouldn't be wasted! Then I'd have no YangChow to eat!_

She shook her head as a couple of guests she passed by were looking at her in amusement, probably because she looked as if she had something complicated in her mind.

_Maybe... maybe if Li brought an extra container of rice? Then we'd eat it without Onii-chan knowing._

She giggled, thus adding more amusement to the people around her.

_Of course, I'd eat it fast so there'd be little left for him to eat!_

An evil laugh escaped Sakura's lips. The people around her, now looking a little freaked-out, decided to move away a bit from the "weird lady".

_Who said I needed to share food with him? He's annoying and cocky and I have no huge proof yet but I know he's a jerk too. I don't care if he did pay for those…_

Sakura's left hand flew up to her forehead in sudden realization.

_OH NO. What if he was thinking what Touya was assuming? That I can be bought with a bunch of little meat pocket thingies?_

She inhaled.

_Maybe that was why he brought dumplings… to see if he can use them against me!_

_No. I won't be broken so easily. That jerk! He probably thinks that I'm like every other shallow woman. Tsk tsk, toying with my appetite just so he can get that merger! I knew it!_

_Oh no. Maybe I have been a little too friendly. I must pay him back! I'll give him a thousand dumplings and throw it at his face._

Another evil laugh.

_From now on, no more Ms. Nice Girl. I'll show him. He can't mess with an Amazon._

And with that, Sakura walked on back towards the hotel building. She walked on with a contented smile on her face, thinking of her resolution, not knowing that subconsciously, what was to be another one of her many silent musings about dumplings were for the first time disrupted by a seemingly unimportant subject.

Ain't that weird.


End file.
